Large Increase In Number Of Kyrgyz Religious Extremism Prosecutions

October 18, 2011
OSH, Kyrgyzstan -- Thirty criminal cases against alleged members of Islamic extremist groups have been launched in southern Kyrgyzstan in the last nine months, RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service reports.
 
Jakyp Zulpuev of the Osh regional police told RFE/RL on October 18 that 22 of the 30 cases have been fully investigated and the suspects brought to trial.
 
Zulpuev added that 23 suspected members of the banned Islamic party Hizb ut-Tahrir have been detained.
 
The total number of criminal cases opened against alleged religious extremists and terrorists in the Osh region has increased in comparison with 2010, when only 10 such cases were registered.