From Turkish Press, “Seven jailed in Tajikistan for membership in outlawed Islamic group,” :
DUSHANBE – A court in Tajikistan handed down prison sentences of three to nine years Wednesday to seven people accused of belonging to an outlawed Islamic group Hizbi Tahrir and agitating for the overthrow of the Central Asian country’s government.
“They were found guilty of fomenting racial and religious hatred, organising an armed group, calling for the overthrow of the government, and participating in an extremist group and illegal party,” said Sadyk Kurbanov, the judge in the northern Sogd district.
“The extremists, among whom were two students, were arrested six months ago while handing out Islamic leaflets in a local market. During searches of their home Hizbi Takhrir literature was found,” he told AFP.
Hizbi Tahrir, or the Freedom Party, was founded in the 1950s in the Middle East and is considered one of the most active fundamentalist Islamic organisations. Thousands of people in Muslim Central Asia are believed to be members.
The party’s main goal in Central Asia, which was under Communist rule until the Soviet collapse in 1991, is the creation of a religious state throughout the region…