A court in Kyrgyzstan’s south has sentenced a human rights defender to one year in jail.
Osh City Court found 53-year-old Ravshan Garipov, the head of the nongovernmental organization Justice and Truth, guilty of using the Internet for “unconstitutional calls against Kyrgyzstan’s secular system.”
Garipov rejected all the charges, saying that his trial was politically motivated.
Abdymanap Khalilov, the director of the Foundation for the Development of Democracy and Law, told RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service that the trial looked like "punishment" of Garipov's human rights activities.
Garipov has been involved in defending the rights of individuals convicted for their ties to the banned Hizb ut-Tahrir organization.
Osh City Court found 53-year-old Ravshan Garipov, the head of the nongovernmental organization Justice and Truth, guilty of using the Internet for “unconstitutional calls against Kyrgyzstan’s secular system.”
Garipov rejected all the charges, saying that his trial was politically motivated.
Abdymanap Khalilov, the director of the Foundation for the Development of Democracy and Law, told RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service that the trial looked like "punishment" of Garipov's human rights activities.
Garipov has been involved in defending the rights of individuals convicted for their ties to the banned Hizb ut-Tahrir organization.
