EU, U.S. Slam Andijon Convictions

The Andijon defendant in the Tashkent courtroom on 14 November (RFE/RL) 15 November 2005 -- The European Union has imposed sanctions and the United States has condemned as unfair the sentencing of 15 men to prison for their alleged roles in last May's bloodshed in the Uzbek city of Andijon.

The Supreme Court in Tashkent sentenced the men Monday to between 14 and 20 years in prison after finding them guilty of attempting to overthrow the Uzbek constitutional system in a bid to create an Islamic caliphate.

A European Union statement on 14 November announced an EU ban on arms sales to Uzbekistan and a one-year ban on travel to the EU by 12 top Uzbek officials.

U.S. State Department spokesman Adam Ereli said Washington denounced the convictions.

"Well, we believe that these convictions are based on evidence that isn't credible and a trial that isn't fair," Ereli said. "We've expressed those concerns about this case from the very beginning. And I would just reiterate the fact that there has never been an independent investigation into the Andijon incidents."

Ereli declined to comment on an alliance treaty between Russia and Uzbekistan that was signed on 14 November at the Kremlin in Moscow by Presidents Vladimir Putin and Islam Karimov. The treaty includes an accord saying that an attack on either country will be considered an act of "aggression" against both. It also gives Russia the possibility of using a military base in Uzbekistan.

(Reuters/AFP)