Bishkek, July 08: Two Islamic activists in the former
Soviet Republic of Kyrgyzstan have been convicted and
sentenced to five years in prison, court officials said today,
after they were caught passing out propaganda from a religious
party that is banned across central Asia.
Abdulla Abduraulov, 42, and Shavkat Islambayev, 25, were
convicted Thursday in the southern city of Osh on charges of
inciting religious, ethnic or national hatred, court officials
said. They had been arrested after passing out Hizb-ut-Tahrir
materials at a park in Osh, and investigators later found more
materials in their home, according to media reports today.
The case was the fourth in recent months against members
of Hizb-ut-Tahrir in Osh, a region that has suffered several
incursions by Islamic militants over the past few years.
The two accused were part of an underground cell that had
been operating since 1999, according to reports.
Hizb-ut-Tahrir has adherents throughout the middle east
and former Soviet Republics in central Asia, and has called
for creating an Islamic state in central Asia. Authorities in
the region have cracked down on the group, raising complaints
by human rights groups who say thousands of innocent young men
have been jailed for alleged membership.
Bureau Report
