Czech news agency CTK
December 2

he Committee for Security and Cooperation in Europe of the US Congress is concerned about the idea that Czech authorities may be thinking of extraditing Uzbek dissident Mohammad Solih into Uzbekistan, Michael Ochs from the Committee who is in charge of Central Asia, said last night.

Solih, currently detained in Prague on Interpol's initiative, has been given by Norway the status of refugee, Ochs said. Ochs wrote in an e-mail report, given to CTK, that the Czech police proceeded on the basis of an Interpol arrest warrant. He added that he believed that a thorough investigation of the case would lead to the rejection of the possibility that he would be extradited to Tashkent. Since Uzbekistan does not have independent judiciary, it can be ruled out that a fair trial of Solih would be conducted and it can be even supposed that he might be tortured, Ochs wrote.

The Norwegian Foreign Ministry spokesman told CTK that Solih had been granted political asylum in Norway two years ago.

Solih heads Uzbekistan's main opposition democratic Party Erk, which was outlawed as extremist by Uzbek President Islam Karimov some time ago. Karimov accused Erk of co-assisting to a terrorist bombing in Tashkent in 1999.

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