Uzbek Opposition Politician Jailed For Six Years

(RFE/RL) February 20, 2007 (RFE/RL) -- A court in Uzbekistan's Andijon province has handed down a six-year prison sentence to an opposition politician in connection with the May 2005 uprising there, RFE/RL's Uzbek Service reported.

Isroil Kholdorov, the 57-year-old leader of the banned opposition party Erk (Freedom), was sentenced on February 19.

"He was sentenced under articles 159, 244, 223, and 216 of Uzbekistan's Criminal Code," Kholdorov's lawyer Ruhiddin Komilov told RFE/RL. "These are charges for illegally crossing the state border, establishing illegal groups, as well as the distribution of threatening and extremist materials, and encroachment upon the constitutional regime in Uzbekistan."

Kholdorov fled to neighboring Kyrgyzstan after the May 2005 violence in the Uzbek city of Andijon in which at least 187 people died.

He continued his opposition to the Uzbek government from Kyrgyzstan, despite warnings from Kyrgyz authorities and the office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees that political agitation could prevent him from receiving asylum in Kyrgyzstan.

Kyrgyz human rights defenders, including the official ombudsman, accuse Uzbek security agents of having kidnapped Kholdorov and other Andijon refugees and taking them back to Uzbekistan.

(with RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service)