Kazakhstan extradites a 38-year-old Uzbek man who gets 12 years in prison for religious extremism. Appeals by the United Nations and complaints by his family are ignored. The court fails to send a copy of the verdict to the family.

Tashkent (AsiaNews/Agencies) -  Extradited from Kazakhstan in March to his country of origin, Khayrullo Tursunov, an Uzbek Muslim, was sentenced to 12 years in prison for religious extremism. Ignoring appeals from the United Nations Committee against Torture, the Kashkadarya Regional Criminal Court that convicted him refused to send his family a copy of the verdict.

Tursunov, 38-year-old Muslim man from eastern Uzbekistan, had fled to Kazakhstan with his family in 2009 fearful that Uzbek authorities might persecute him because of his faith.

When Kazakhstan extradited him in March, his wife and son were forced to flee to another country for protection, whilst Tursunov was transferred to a prison in Uzbekistan.

Forum 18 tried to contact Kashkadarya Regional Court officials to get some explanations about his conviction and the reasons for denying his family a copy of the verdict, to no avail.

In 2010, 13 young Muslims were jailed in the same region on similar charges. In fact, they had learnt to read the Qur'an and had started to pray at home.

Incidents of this kind are not uncommon in Uzbekistan, a country where religious freedom is severely restricted and heavy penalties are imposed on members of religious minorities to weaken them.

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