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October 26, 2005
Uzbekistan: Andijan "Islamists" On Trial Face Long Imprisonment
We briefly sketched some of the events from May 13 this year, when a massacre took place in Andijan's main square, where hundreds of people died. In that report we also mentioned the claims of former UK ambassador to Uzbekistan, Craig Murray, who claimed that scenes shown to him of Uzbek suicide bombings by the "Islamic Jihad Union" were clearly faked by government authorities.
The "uprising" as the Uzbek authorities would like the world to believe, was apparently an attempt to overthrow the government of President Karimov (pictured), and to create an Islamic nation. The trial of the 15 suspects blamed for causing this uprising has now been going on for about a month. The individuals now in a white cage were not the ones who fired on the men, women and children protesting in Andijan that crisp Friday morning.
But the prosecutors maintain that they are guilty, and all the defendants have already pleaded guilty to charges made against them. Deputy Prosecutor Anvar Nabiyev has asked for sentences of 20 years imprisonment for 5 of the accused, and for the other 10, sentences of 15 to 19 years, according to the BBC."Under the guise of social protection, the Islamic extremists staged anti-people actions that resulted in the death of peaceful civilians, government workers and law enforcement agents," he said.
Human rights activists have dismissed the trials as a farce. The death toll of victims in the shooting were way over 500, but the government and prosecution at this trial say that only 187 "mostly terrorist" organisers were killed.
The reason the accused may have pleaded guilty is perhaps drug-related. A former Uzbek interior ministry official claimed beatings or psychotropic drugs were often employed to force confessions.
A report from today's MosNews details how the Uzbek opposition leader, Sanjar Umarov, had been accused of a theft, and was arrested on Saturday. His party, Sunshine Uzbekistan, have claimed the charges were fabricated.
Umarov's lawyer, Valery Krasilovsky, said his client was naked in his cell, covering his face and mumbling. His eldest son Gulam Umarov has said "He is obviously being drugged, because my father never acted this way".
In a statement made after his arrest, Sanjar Umarov relayed a message from jail, stating that he had been pressurised by the authorities, who had threatened to inject him with drugs.
If this is the treatment meted out to a leader of an opposing political party, then the claims that the accused in the "Islamist Terror" trial could easily have been coerced into making confessions of guilt seem more credible than ever.
Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at October 26, 2005 7:30 PM
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