- MOSCOW: A respected human rights group in authoritarian Uzbekistan says 16 men have been convicted of membership in a banned Islamist group and given lengthy prison sentences for membership after they were tortured into confessions.
The closed trial in the town of Yangibazar is part of a sweeping crackdown on thousands of Muslims who practice their faith outside the government-approved institutions in the tightly controlled Central Asian nation.
Surat Ikramov of the Independent Human Rights Defenders Group said that the defendants were accused of forming an extremist group and sentenced to six to 12 years in jail during a closed trial that ended Thursday.
He said charges against them were “trumped up,” and the defendants were coerced to sign confessions under “severe torture.”
Prosecutors and court officials did not reply to calls made by The Associated Press.
