This from today's RFE/RL: After a two-day closed trial, journalist and human rights defender Umida Niyazova was sentenced to seven years’ imprisonment yesterday. The trial had been postponed from its original April 19th date, with no reason given for the postponement.
Freedom House, IREX, Pen International and Pen American Center, Human Rights Watch, and fidh.org are among the many who have called for Ms. Niyazova's fair trial. Human Rights Watch, due to be expelled from Uzbekistan, had their permits reinstated, which gave some of us hope that gestures toward human rights would increase during the visit of the UN High Commissioner of Human Rights, Ms. Louise Arbour.
There is a little more biography about Ms. Niyazova included in the Erk Opposition party Web site.
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