Riot organisers sentenced in court

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BISHKEK – On Nov. 27, Kyrgyzstan’s Osh regional court sentenced 32 people in the city of Nookat. Ten were sentenced to 20 years in prison, one underage person was sentenced to nine years, and the others received sentences of 16 to 19 years. According to the Kyrgyz prosecutor general, all those sentenced were members of Hizb ut-Tahrir, the largest banned organisation in the country.

The trial began at the start of November before Judge Bakyt Sarybaev. Each of the accused was charged with violating eight articles of the Kyrgyz Criminal Code including: attempting to overthrow the constitutional order, organising a mass riot, conducting illegal religious extremist activity, inducing underage persons to commit a crime, using violence against authorities and intentionally destroying property.

The riot followed the local administration’s refusal to allow the religious holiday Ozoro-Ait to be celebrated on the city’s central square. The authorities offered the use of a stadium instead. Unhappy with that decision, a crowd threw stones at the administration building and attempted to force their way inside. Five policemen sustained injuries as a result of the incident. According to the Kyrgyz Interior Ministry’s press service, the current official count of Hizb ut-Tahrir members in the republic is 2,000, though members of law enforcement believe the real number is far higher. On Nov. 24, the ministry released a special statement announcing that the organisation’s members had grown far more active and the organisation had expanded geographically.

[Kazakhstan-Today news agency, 24.kg, AKIpress]