A Moscow court has sentenced an Uzbekistan-born human rights defender, Bakhrom Khamroyev, known for providing labor migrants from Central Asia in Russia with legal assistance, to 14 years in prison for "online calls for terrorism and organizing a terrorist group's activities." The Memorial human rights group condemned the May 23 ruling, saying that "Khamroyev is being persecuted for his consistent human rights activities." The charges against Khamroyev stemmed from his online statements related to controversial probes against people accused of being members of the Hizb ut-Tahrir Islamic group, which is banned in Russia.
