Group of extremists convicted in Tajikistan

Dushanbe, June 26, Interfax – A court in the Tajik capital issued a verdict on Tuesday against 12 suspected members of the extremist party Hizb ut-Tahrir, the republic’s Supreme Court said in a statement.

The convicts are residents of Dushanbe and adjacent areas.

“The defendants were found guilty under Articles 307 (calls for overthrow of the constitutional power) and 189 (inciting ethnic and religious animosity) and sentenced between 4 and 14 years at a high-security prison,” the statement said.

“All of the defendants were members of the Hizb ut-Tahrir party banned in Tajikistan,” the statement said.

In particular, most of the defendants were apprehended when they were handing out extremist leaflets in the capital, it said.

Hizb ut-Tahrir has been officially banned in Tajikistan since 2001.

In 2011, Tajik courts issued guilty verdicts against 168 suspected extremists, including religious ones. In 2010, there were 158 of such convicts, and in 2009, just 37.

Source : interfax-religion.com