Uzbek trial defendant calls for jailed leader to testify

Associated Press October 20 A defendant in the trial of 15 men accused of participating in a May uprising in Uzbekistan called on Wednesday for the leader of a group of Islamic businessmen to testify and take responsibility for plotting the rebellion. The Uzbek government has been blamed by the West for violently putting down the protest in Andijan where hundreds of unarmed civilians were killed, according to human rights activists and refugees who fled Uzbekistan following the uprising. The authorities say that 187 people died mostly radical Islamic militants. Rights groups have dismissed the court sessions as a government-staged show trial aimed at diverting blame. The uprising erupted when militants seized a prison and freed 23 businessmen who had been on trial for alleged Islamic extremism. The attackers then seized a local administration building and about 70 hostages, as thousands of demonstrators gathered in an adjacent square to press economic and social grievances. On Wednesday, defendant Muidin Sobirov said that Akram Yuldashev - allegedly the leader of the group of businessmen that plotted the violence - should "testify on all the grave crimes he has committed." "He needs to answer for all his misdeeds," Sobirov told the court. Yuldashev has been in prison since 1999, serving a 17-year sentence for allegedly calling for the government to be overthrown. The Uzbek authorities also claim that Akramia and Yuldashev are linked to the religious extremist group Hizb-ut-Tahrir, which is banned in Uzbekistan and calls for the establishment of an Islamic state in the region. Prosecutors said Yuldashev's videotaped testimony would soon be shown to the court.