Ten Suspected Members Of Islamic Group Face Death Sentence
TASHKENT (AFP) - Uzbekistan's public prosecutor asked on Monday that 10 suspected members of a banned Islamic group be sentenced to death for alleged crimes including murder, terrorism and a bid to seize power.
Public Prosecutor Erkin Kudratov called for the death sentence to be handed down on suspected leaders of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, Takhir Yuldash, Djuma Namangani and opposition party leader Mukhammad Salikh.
The three men, who are being tried in absentia, are accused of masterminding a host of crimes in Uzbekistan, including a series of border incursions and bomb attacks on the capital Tashkent.
According to Kudratov, at least 70 people have died and more than 200 have suffered physical or material harm as a result of these actions.
Six other defendants, who are also being tried in absentia, are accused of participating in a wave of bomb attacks in the capital Tashkent in February 1999, which killed 16 and injured more than 100 people. Kudratov asked that the six also face the death penalty.
Three other defendants are present in court. They include Ulugbek Makhmudov, who is said to have participated in an armed attack on Bostanlyk some 100 kilometers (60 miles) from Tashkent in August this year. He could also be sentenced to death.
Two others, Usmon Shukupov and Alimzhon Adbulbakhidov, are accused of taking part in an incursion into Uzbekistan's southern Sukhandarinsk region this summer and they face a 20-year prison sentence.
All 12 defendants face charges including terrorism, attempting to overthrow the president, inciting religious and racial hatred and willful destruction of property.
Uzbek President Islam Karimov saw the Tashkent bomb attacks as an attempt on his life and subsequently launched a crackdown on Islamic extremism, a move that has been criticized by human rights groups.
They warn that Karimov's moves to tighten his iron grip on this former Soviet state will antagonize ordinary Muslims and fuel Islamic unrest in the volatile region.
