Rights groups condemn closed trial of Andijan activist

Rights activists in Uzbekistan on Monday criticised the closed trial and conviction of Saidjahon Zainabitdinov from the eastern city of Andijan, who had been instrumental in alerting the world about the violent clampdown by government forces on protests in the city in May. Chairman of the Andijan-based human rights group Appeliatsia (Appeal), the activist had been in custody for almost eight months and was believed to have gone on trial two weeks ago, according to rights groups. "I do confirm this information and my reaction to this is negative, the authorities should not do this and the court hearings should've been held openly. This reinforces the notion that there is something that the authorities want to conceal from the public," Surat Ikramov, head of the local Initiative Group of Independent Human Rights Defenders of Uzbekistan (IGIHRDU), said from the Uzbek capital, Tashkent, on Monday, confirming that the court hearings held in one of the districts of the Tashkent province had been secret and closed. "I share the view that the authorities are doing this in an effort to conceal the truth about what had transpired in Andijan," Ikramov said. "Secondly, it had been done to prevent foreign journalists, international organisations, rights activists and other observers from attending this hearing. This is the way this court hearing was held; only afterwards did we learn what had happened, that Saidjahon Zainabitdinov had been convicted for seven years imprisonment," Ikramov maintained. His colleague Tolib Yakubov from the Human Rights Society of Uzbekistan (HRSU), another local rights group, concurred: "I incline to think that he was convicted and [that] the court hearing took place. And they can transfer him directly to prison without any appeal in a matter of 10 or more days." "Nobody knew about his whereabouts, including his lawyers, as no one had access to him," Yakubov added. Their comments come three days after the international rights watchdog Human Rights Watch (HRW) called upon Tashkent to clarify the fate of Zainabitdinov, who was arrested after speaking out about the killings of hundreds of unarmed protesters by the Uzbek security forces on 13 May in Andijan, particularly to foreign media. Rights groups claim that upwards of 1,000 civilians may have been killed in the violent clampdown on dissent in the city. “Uzbek authorities are hiding information about Zainabitdinov’s whereabouts,” Holly Cartner, HRW's Europe and Central Asia Director, said in a statement on Friday. “They should immediately tell Saidjahon’s family and the international community what has happened to him.” "Saidjahon Zainabitdinov was the first amongst incarcerated rights activists. He was arrested just a week after the Andijan events. Eight months have passed since then and neither his relatives nor rights activists had heard anything about his fate for more than six months," Tolib Yakubov, head of HRSU,lamented. According to HRW, Zainabitdinov’s trial reportedly started on 4 January, while the authorities did not tell even his family about the place and the date of the trial. One week later, unconfirmed reports indicated that Zainabitdinov had been sentenced to seven years, the rights watchdog maintained, adding that Tashkent had not confirmed whether the trial had even started or whether Zainabitdinov had already been sentenced. Zainabitdinov was vocal in covering the government clampdown in Andijan, publishing bulletins based on eyewitness reports from others and also giving interviews to many media outlets. He was charged with spreading false information to the media and spreading panic among the population following his arrest on 21 May. The Uzbek authorities claim that Zainabitdinov’s bulletins “were intended to cause panic among the population” and to undermine Uzbekistan’s public image, HRW reported. According to one official, Zainabitditnov was accused of giving false statements to journalists 49 times on 13 May.