Azerbaijan, Baku, Oct. 16 / Trend /
Tajik court sentenced a BBC reporter to three years imprisonment, but then set free under an amnesty law on Oct.14, RFE/RL's Tajik Service reported.
59-year-old journalist Urunboy Usmonov was found guilty of failing to inform the authorities about his contacts with the banned Islamic organization, Hizb ut-Tahrir. Usmonov denied the charges and is likely to appeal the verdict.
Usmonov argues that he was tortured during his pretrial detention this summer.
Usmonov and his employer maintain that any contact with Hizb ut-Tahrir was entirely for journalistic purposes.
Four other men were tried together with Usmonov in the same court in the northern Tajik town of Khujand. The men were found guilty of Hizb ut-Tahrir membership and were imprisoned for term ranging between 20 and 22 years.