Uzbek courts crackdown on dissent and NGO's

Prominent human rights defender and journalist Saidzhakhon Zainabitdinov , was arbitrarily detained on 21 May 2005 by Uzbek police corces. He attended the trial of 23 local entrepreneurs charged in connection with their alleged involvement with a business organisation by the name of Akramia at the events in Andizjan in May , and acted as a representative for one of the accused men.

Uzbeki authorities accused members and supporters of Akramia of attempting to organise protests with a view to establishing an Islamic state in Uzbekistan.
They linked the movement to the banned Hizb-ut-Tahrir opposition party, which they categorise as a ‘terrorist’ organisation. (Which is also under threat in the UK)

Saidzhakhon Zainabitdinov was allowed to call his family on 29 and 30 May 2005 and confirmed that he had been charged with ‘slander’, and a possible 3 year prison sentence, relating to an open letter about the trial of the 23 entrepreneurs published on the internet.

In July he was further charged with ‘terrorism’, a capital offence, and ‘spreading information with the aim of causing panic’.

An Uzbek court yesterday sentenced him to 7 years in prison on charges of conspiring with "terrorists," defaming the state, and religious extremism for providing information to foreign media regarding last year's violent uprising in Andijan, where as many as 500 protesters were killed by state troops Previous trials against protesters have led to 115 reported convictions, with prison sentences ranging from 12-20 years.

Meanwhile, an Uzbek civil court on Wednesday denied the appeal (following a January 11, 2006, decision from the Uzbek Ministry of Justice claiming that the office was in violation of Uzbek legislation governing nongovernmental organizations' (NGO) operations ) of the US-based human rights group Freedom House challenging a ruling by the Uzbek Ministry of Justice that would force the group to cease activities in Uzbekistan for six months.

Freedom House officials believe the decision was motivated by the government's desire to silence criticism of its human rights record, the group was officially charged with offering free internet access to citizens, sheltering unregistered domestic groups, and violating a classified order. (Uzbek prosecutors had alleged noncompliance with a secret decree issued by the government, which throughout the proceedings remained undisclosed.)

Approximately 200 domestic organizations have been forced to close down or leave the country, as have numerous international NGOs, including IREX, Internews, BBC, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and the Open Society Institute.

It is not known what the UK Ambassador in Tashkent has done to protest about the suppression of Human Rights in these cases..... but don't expect Mr Straw to be rushing out a statement in support of Human Rights or for Saidzhakhon Zainabitdinov.

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