15 rebels on trial over Andijan riot in Uzbekistan

The first 15 people accused of plotting a riot in the eastern Uzbek city of Andijan were put on trial Tuesday, according to reports reaching here from Tashkent, capital of Uzbekistan.

Deputy Prosecutor General Anvar Nabiyev filed more than 20 charges against the 15 rebels, including terrorism, infringing on constitutional order, organizing armed riot, murder, robbery and hostage-taking.

Three of the 15 defendants were civilians from the neighboring Kyrgyzstan, said the reports.

Some 200 victims and witnesses appeared at the Supreme Court proceedings, testifying against the defendants, who pleaded guilty to plotting the May riot.

The trial came after prosecutors completed investigations of the plotters, and another 106 people alleged to have participated in the unrest were being probed.

The violence began on the evening of May 12 with a jail break that freed 23 businessmen who had been detained for religious extremism, along with hundreds of other prisoners.

After quelling the riot, the Uzbek government put the death toll of the events at 187, saying the dead were 96 religious extremists, 60 civilians and 31 security guards and soldiers.

Source: xinhua