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| Central Asia |
| Uzbek Court Sentences 15 Terrorists |
| 2004-08-25 |
| Uzbekistan's Supreme Court on Tuesday sentenced 15 al-Qaida-linked Islamic militants to as long as 18 years in prison for a series of bombings that killed at least 47 people earlier this year. Furkat Yusupov, 24, and Farkhad Kazakbayev, 22, were each sentenced to 18 years in prison. They were described as the most active members of the al-Qaida-linked group Jamoat that was behind the blasts. Eleven other men were sentenced to jail terms ranging from 11 to 16 years, while the wives of the two suicide bombers were sentenced to 6 years and 10 years. The trial, which opened July 26, was the first against those accused in a series of March and April explosions and assaults on police that killed 33 militants, 10 police and four bystanders. Other trials are expected with dozens more suspects in custody. Prosecutors had demanded jail terms of up to 20 years for the militants sentenced Tuesday, all of whom pleaded guilty to charges of religious extremism, terrorism and murder. "The court took into consideration that all those that had carried out the bombings had died and that all the suspects have actively cooperated with the investigation," said Jamolov. The accused also said they were members of the Islamic party Hizb-ut-Tahrir which calls for the establishment of an Islamic state in Central Asia. Hizb-ut-Tahrir denies it uses violence in its activities. The suicide bombers' wives, Ikbol Tahsbulatova and Kamola Yusupova, were jailed for 6 and 10 years respectively. Judge Bakhtiyor Jamolov said Yusupova received a longer sentence because she was accused of being an active member of Jamoat and had prepared 60 suicide bombers' belts for the attacks. It was widely expected that the prosecutors would request the death penalty. During the trial, the capital Tashkent was hit July 30 by three near-simultaneous suicide bombings that killed seven people, including the attackers, which authorities said were linked to the same group. |
| Posted by:Fred |