KHUJAND, January 30, 2012, Asia-Plus — The trial of 34 persons charged with membership in the banned Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) began in the city of Khujand today.
All the defendants are residents of the Isfara district and they face charges of killing, organization of an illegal armed formation, banditry, formation of a criminal group, incitement of ethnic, racial, regional or religious enmity, and public calls for the forcible overthrow of the constitutional order in Tajikistan, the source said.
According to the Sughd prosecutor’s office, 135 activists of extremist religious groups, including Hizb ut-Tahrir and IMU, were arrested in northern Tajikistan last year.
We will recall that the Sughd regional court in December 2011 convicted 53 people for involvement in a deadly 2010 car bombing, declaring 43 of the defendants members of the outlawed Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan.
The Supreme Court in January 2006 banned 10 organizations as extremist on the basis of a suit filed by the Prosecutor-General”s Office. The list includes the Islamic Party of Turkestan, Harakati Tablighot, Jamiyati Tablighot, Al-Qaeda, Sozmoni Tabligh, and Tojikistoni Ozod (Free Tajikistan).
Hizb ut-Tahrir, the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, and Bayat have been banned in Tajikistan since 2000. The Supreme Court of Tajikistan formally labeled the banned Hizb ut-Tahrir Islamist group as an extremist organization on March 11, 2008. The ruling followed a request submitted to the court by Tajik chief prosecutor. The ruling means even tighter restrictions on the group”s presence on the Internet and its use of media to promote its ideology.
