This entry was posted on
Friday, September 23rd, 2005 at
9:59 am and is filed
under Uzbekistan.

Independent – Uzbekistan puts 15 ‘terrorists’ on trial for Andijan atrocity: Human rights campaigners claimed that up to 700 mostly unarmed civilians were mown down indiscriminately by Uzbek security forces anxious to clamp down on an anti-government demonstration which had turned violent. Mr Karimov had a different version. He said that 187 people were killed, and blamed Islamist extremists who he accused of plotting to overthrow his government to establish a central Asian caliphate. Most of those killed were, he claimed, “terrorists”… Human rights groups alleged the men had been intimidated and forced into making confessions. The men listened as the court was told how they had allegedly executed hostages and used civilians as human shields.

Reuters – Uzbek defendants say Western media helped rebels: On the second day of what some analysts have dubbed a show trial, the first three of 15 defendants who have pleaded guilty to terrorism and other charges focused much of their testimony on the handful of reporters who witnessed the bloodshed.

UPDATE – Using terrorism as an excuse to stifle dissent. Claims of media lies from a state with a f**king stranglehold on MSM. Yet another reason why Bush and Blair are surely hoping Karimov manges to pull this off. If not, the comparisons will be somewhat uncomfortable for them.