Russian Court Rejects Challenge To Uzbek Extraditions

Demonstrators targeting the Uzbek government outside Tashkent's embassy in Brussels in May 2006 (RFE/RL) November 30, 2006 -- Rights activists say Russia's Supreme Court has rejected a challenge to a recent order by prosecutors to deport 12 Uzbek nationals and one Kyrgyz citizen to Tashkent.

The Moscow-based rights group Memorial and Civic Assistance (Grazhdanskoye Sodeistviye) says the court reached its decision on November 28.

Supreme Court spokesman Pavel Odintsov told RFE/RL's Uzbek Service today that the plaintiffs may appeal the decision with the next-highest legal instance, which is the Supreme Court's presidium.

"Under [Russian] laws, the sides have 10 days to appeal a decision made by a lower court with a higher legal authority," Odintsov said.

The suspects have been in custody in the central Russian city of Ivanovo since June 2005.

They are wanted in Uzbekistan for their alleged involvement in an uprising that led to a deadly crackdown by authorities in the eastern Uzbek city of Andijon.

On August 3, the Russian Prosecutor-General's Office ordered that they be sent to Uzbekistan. But it suspended the deportation a few days later, apparently to give the European Court of Human Rights time to examine their case.

On October 24, Russian authorities deported another Uzbek national, Rustam Muminov, who was also wanted in his home country for alleged participation in the Andijon events.

(with additional reporting by Prima-News, ferghana.ru)