An Uzbek court on Monday convicted two men accused of membership in extremist groups in a trial where no prosecutor was present and no witnesses testified, according to human rights activists who say the case was motivated because of the defendants' religious beliefs.
Furkat Yuldashev, 29, and Mirzarakhmat Aminov, 24, were each sentenced at a Tashkent district court to eight years in prison, said human rights activist Surat Ikramov. The absent prosecutor had phoned in a sentence recommendation of seven years, Ikramov said.
The two were arrested Jan. 14 in Tashkent and also charged with anti-constitutional activity. Yuldashev's mother, Latofat Nabiyeva, had insisted they were just observant Muslims and not members of any banned group.
Uzbekistan has drawn strong international criticism for its campaign against extremist Islam that has led to a widespread crackdown on independent Muslims who choose to practice their faith outside state-run mosques. Lack of due process is a regular feature at trials, where the judiciary fails to operate independently.
The two men convicted weren't allowed to see their lawyers for two weeks after their arrest, but during that time authorities had already forced them to sign confessions.
The trial had been postponed a couple of times previously, with Judge Azamat Ibragimov refusing to admit human rights activists or journalists. Ibragimov had also said the delays were caused because of arrangements to hear testimony from witnesses who were already imprisoned. But no witnesses testified Monday at the verdict and sentencing, Ikramov said.
The group most targeted by the Uzbek crackdown is Hizb ut-Tahrir, a banned Islamic organization that calls for the establishment of a Muslim state across Central Asia but hasn't been linked to violence.
Earlier Monday, more than 25 women with sons imprisoned on Hizb ut-Tahrir-related charges gathered at the headquarters of the prison administration in Tashkent. They included Hadicha Khudayberdeyeva, whose brother Istam Khudayberdeyev was sentenced last year to 16 years in prison and who has acknowledged being a Hizb ut-Tahrir member.
Khudayberdeyev is being held in the infamous Zhaslyk prison in northwest Uzbekistan, and Khudayberdeyeva said she had received information that he had died in custody in what would be the first death there since two inmates died in August, including one whose body was returned to relatives with burns and with a broken skull.
Khudayberdeyeva said prison officials told her Monday that he was alive but refused to call to confirm the fact in her presence.
Police also tried to prevent reporters from The Associated Press and Voice of America from speaking with the women, accusing the journalists of having organized the protest and causing disorder, and saying that coverage of their complaints would give Uzbekistan a bad image. "They are criminals and they should sit in jail," a police colonel, who refused to give his name, shouted about the women's relatives.