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TASHKENT, Dec 24 (AFP): Nineteen soldiers and five police were convicted in Uzbekistan Friday for negligence in relation to an uprising seven months ago which officials say cost 187 lives, the supreme court said.
"The accused have been judged guilty of negligence, dereliction of duty, abuse of power and violation of the laws of surveillance," a court statement said, adding that some of the accused could be demoted.
The convictions were announced after trials conducted behind closed doors in the wake of the May 13 uprising in the eastern province of Andijan, which the government has blamed on the actions of Islamic insurgents.
They are the first sentences which have been handed down to members of the security forces since the violence despite independent reports from human rights groups that troops opened fire and killed hundreds of civilians.
The negligence charges arose from the officers' failure to defend a prison and an arms depot which were attacked by demonstrators during the unrest in the Central Asian former Soviet republic.
Another 12 police officers are facing trial in relation to the violence.
Uzbekistan has been criticised by the United Nations, the European Union and the United States for its handling of the unrest and the subsequent convictions on "terrorism" charges of at least 151 civilians, mostly in closed- door trials.
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