KHUJAND, November 25, 2009, Asia-Plus  -- The trial of two residents of the Isfara district – Qudratullo Nematulloyev and Abdusami Nourmuhammadi – began in Sughd’s regional court in Khujand on November 24.

They are suspected of being members of the banned Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) and having committed a number of serious crimes.

Proceedings started with the reading of the indictment, which charges Nematulloyev and Nourmuhammadi with organization of criminal grouping, incitement of national, racial, regional and religious enmity, calls for the forcible overthrow of or change to the constitutional order in Tajikistan, killing and so forth (totaling 20 articles of Tajikistan’s Penal Code).

According to the Sughd law enforcement authorities, they were detained at the beginning of this year.  “Nematulloyev and Nourmuhammadi have been members of IMU’s cell in Isfara since 1995,” the source said.