By Craig Murray, Washington Post, 9/3/06
London: The courtroom provided a telling introduction. I had recently arrived
as British ambassador in Uzbekistan’s old Silk Road capital of
Tashkent, where I was watching the trial of a 22-year-old dissident
named Iskander Khuderbegainov. The gaunt young man was accused with
five other Muslims of several crimes, including membership in a
terrorist organization linked to al-Qaeda. The six sat huddled in a
cage guarded by 14 Kalashnikov-wielding soldiers. The judge made a show
of not listening to the defense, haranguing the men with anti-Islamic
jokes. It looked like a replay of footage I’d seen of Nazi show trials. [read more]