A court in Tajikistan has convicted a local BBC reporter of spreading banned Islamic propaganda despite international pressure to acquit him.
| Does international pressure ever work in a Central Asian country? |
Urunboy Usmonov, 60, received a three-year sentence at the trial in Khujand, northern Tajikistan, although the judge immediately granted him an amnesty and allowed him to walk free.
Peter Horrocks, Director BBC Global News, condemned the verdict and said that Usmonov was innocent of all charges. | We know, 'cause, um, 'cause ... he is! |
Usmonov complained that he had been forced to sign a confession and that guards had beaten him and stubbed cigarettes out on his arms.
International pressure has been growing on the Tajik authorities since they arrested Usmonov in June on suspicion of being a member of the banned Hizb ut-Tahrir.
Tajikistan has been clamping down on the press this year as it tries to defeat a growing Islamic insurgency which has threatened to destabilise the former Soviet state.
Nato uses Tajikistan as part of its resupply route to its forces in neighbouring Afghanistan and stability in the country, one of the poorest in Central Asia, is considered essential for stopping the spread of militant Islam
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