Uzbeks jail more over Andijan

BBC News December 21 More than 40 people have been jailed in Uzbekistan over the bloody uprising in the eastern town of Andijan last May. They were given sentences of between 12 and 20 years after three separate trials at the Tashkent regional court and city court, the supreme court said. In all, 115 people are reported to have been jailed over events in Andijan. The government says Islamic militants were to blame for the violence, but eyewitnesses say security forces fired on thousands of ordinary people. Forty-two people were sentenced in the latest round of trials, the Uzbek supreme court said. They were found guilty of "carrying out premeditated murders in aggravated circumstances, terrorist acts, infringement of the constitutional system, and other serious and very serious crimes," the supreme court said in a statement. Unrest began in Andijan on 13 May when gunmen stormed a prison to free 23 local businessmen accused of Islamic extremism. The government says 187 people, mostly "terrorist organisers", died in the ensuing violence. But human rights groups believe 500 or more civilians may have been killed, shot by Uzbek security forces.