Uzbek officer gets 15 years for selling military secrets to West

MosNews June 16 The Military Court in the Central Asia state of Uzbekistan has sentenced a member of the Defense Ministry staff, Erkin Musayev, to fifteen years in prison for spying. Musayev was found guilty of high treason, disclosure of state secrets, fraud and criminal negligence. The man handed over classified materials to secret services of a NATO member-country for a material reward, ITAR-TASS news agency reported Friday. According to online publication Uzmetronom, quoted by Associated Press this "NATO member-country" could be the United States. "Musayev supplied the Pentagon with Uzbek and Russian military secrets", news article reads. The convict will be serving the prison term in a minimum security jail, the Military Court's press service said. Uzbekistan's relations with NATO and the USA have worsened after a bloody crackdown in the eastern city of Andijon in May 2005. President Islam Karimov evicted U.S. troops from Uzbek territory as he saw foreign plot behind the anti-government riots.