Olimjon Haydarov was detained and taken into custody in Uzbekistan’s eastern city of Kokand in July, after being charged with extortion.
The YouTuber, whose videos focus on various social and economic issues, was charged with taking money from managers of a shopping centre by threatening to write an article exposing safety breaches at the facility.
The regional police department said that he had been caught red-handed while taking a bribe from the victims.
Uzbekistan refers to both bloggers and citizen journalists as bloggers.
Mr Haydarov faces a jail term of up to 10 years if found guilty.
And he is not the only blogger being held.
Abduqodir Mominov was detained on 8 February, also charged with extortion. He was convicted on 4 August and sentenced to seven years in prison.
And in January this year, Khurshid Daliyev, the founder of the popular news outlet Human.uz, its chief editor Muslim Mirzajonov and several other journalists were detained after an office raid.
Uzbekistan’s State Security Service, which is their national intelligence agency, later said that employees of the website were charged with blackmail and extortion. Their trials are being held in secret.
An alarming erosion
Critics say these crackdowns have damaged Uzbekistan’s President Shavkat Mirziyoyev’s image as a reformer.
Since coming into power, he has made significant headways in curbing child and forced labour, opening up the economy to foreign investment.
But his promise to bring in an era of free speech is in doubt.
Mr Mirziyoyev came into power in 2016, with an election campaign that relied heavily on both bloggers and social media.
On his campaign trail, he was constantly accompanied by a large group of bloggers.
At the beginning of his rule he endorsed a bolder, freer media.
But as the 66-year-old sets out on his third term in office, the recent string of arrests have stirred concerns.
A number of Uzbek political commentators, writers and journalists have spoken in defence of Haydarov and others.
Ex-MP and public activist Rasul Kusherbayev said that he knew Haydarov personally and did not believe the charges against him.
“The criminal allegations against Olimjon are simply a hypothesis of a law enforcement body. Only time will show what actually happened, that is if we survive until that time comes and transparency is still there,” Kusharbayev said.
“Activists are worried about various charges being brought against such individuals who actively use their right to free speech. Democracy cannot exist without this stratum of people who exercise freedom of speech and thought.”
