Uzbekistan To Try 15 In First Andijon Uprising Case

Andijon, Uzbekistan on 14 May 6 September 2005 -- Uzbek prosecutors said a group of 15 people will be the first to go on trial for their alleged role in an antigovernment uprising that was brutally suppressed by troops in the eastern city of Andijon in May.

State news agency UzA said today that investigators told a parliamentary commission yesterday that prosecutors are investigating another 106 people alleged to have taken part in the unrest.

They told the commission that militants from three Islamic militant groups -- the Islamic Movement of Turkestan, Hizb ut-Tahir and Akramiya -- used southern Kyrgyzstan as a base to carry out their plan to seize power in Uzbekistan.

The trial is expected to open on 20 September. Human rights groups say more than 700 people were killed by government troops. Authorities put the death toll at 187.

(AFP/AP)