Ex-warden of Andizhan prison sentenced to 3 years in custody

ITAR-TASS December 23 Former warden of the Andizhan prison Odilzhon Rakhmonov and four guards have been sentenced to three years in custody, a source in the Uzbek Supreme Court press service told Itar-Tass on Friday. The Tashkent City Court found them guilty of the abuse of office and inactivity, which resulted in the prison's seizure by Akramiya militants that set free about 500 dangerous criminals, the source said. Nineteen officers of a military unit attacked by religious radicals were sentenced to one-three years in custody by the Uzbek military court. The officers were taken into custody in the courtroom. Some of them, including unit commander Ravshan Sartayev, were stripped of military ranks. It was announced on Friday that Uzbek Interior Minister Zakirdzhon Almatov, who held the position for the past 13 years and helped to suppress the Andizhan mutiny this May, retired for health reasons. The first trial of 15 suspects was open, and further hearings were held behind closed doors for better security of witnesses, families of the victims, and aggrieved parties. Uzbekistan turned down the western demand for an international investigation into the Andizhan events. Following U.S. severe criticism, Uzbekistan banished an American military base from its territory. The United States stopped financial support to Uzbekistan, and the European Union embargoed selling of armaments and denied entry to high-ranking governmental officials and servicemen, who suppressed the mutiny. Russia and China said that Uzbekistan's measures were lawful and adequate. Officially, the Andizhan events killed 187.