Uznews, Tashkent, 14 Apr 2009 – The Tashkent city court has convicted journalists of the Yetti Iklim (Seven Dimensions) Shavkat Ismoilov and Davron Tajiyev to eight years in prison each for alleged links to the Turkish Nur religious organisation.
The newspaper’s Director Shavkat Ismoilov and Editor Davron Tajiyev were convicted on charges of creating, leading and taking part in religious extremist, separatist, fundamentalist or other banned organisations.
The reason for their conviction was their involvement in the Turkish Nur (Light) religious organisation.
Uznews.net has not managed to contact the journalists’ lawyer to find out whether they will appeal against the ruling.
On 16 February, the Tashkent city court sentenced the five founders and journalists of the Irmok (Spring) magazine to eight to 12 years.
Human rights activists believe members of the Nur organisation have become new victims of President Islam Karimov’s repression campaign. This campaign, launched against independent religious organisations in the early 1990s, intensified after blasts in Tashkent in 1999 and is still under way.
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