Prominent Uzbek human rights defender Mutabar Tajibaeva was given a human rights award by the French government in Paris today.
Tajibaeva, a former political prisoner, told RFE/RL's Uzbek Service that French Human Rights Secretary Rama Yade presented the award to her at the ceremony.
Tajibaeva, the leader of the Ardent Hearts Club of Uzbekistan, was detained in October 2005 after criticizing Uzbek officials for the violent police action in putting down a demonstration in the southern Uzbek city of Andijon in which hundreds of people were killed.
In May 2006, she was found guilty of several crimes and sentenced to eight years in prison. She was released earlier this year.
Tajibaeva, a former political prisoner, told RFE/RL's Uzbek Service that French Human Rights Secretary Rama Yade presented the award to her at the ceremony.
Tajibaeva, the leader of the Ardent Hearts Club of Uzbekistan, was detained in October 2005 after criticizing Uzbek officials for the violent police action in putting down a demonstration in the southern Uzbek city of Andijon in which hundreds of people were killed.
In May 2006, she was found guilty of several crimes and sentenced to eight years in prison. She was released earlier this year.
