(21 Sep 2005) SHOTLIST
1. Various of exterior of court
2. Prosecutors walking into court
3. Interior of court
4. Close up of the judge
5. Mid shot of defendant, Muidin Sobirov, behind cage in court room
6. Close up of defendant, Muidin Sobirov, speaking
7. Various of relatives sitting in court crying
8. Close up of officials sitting in court
9. Close up of defendant
10. Interior of court
11. Police standing guard outside court
STORYLINE
The first of 15 defendants on trial for alleged involvement in a bloody rebellion in Uzbekistan confessed on Wednesday to charges of launching the revolt to usher in Islamic rule in the former Soviet republic.
Muidin Sobirov, 42, said contritely that he prepared a military plan for the May 13 uprising in the eastern city of Andijan, and that the conspirators had received funding from abroad.
He named no countries and gave no details.
May's unrest erupted in Andijan when militants seized a local prison and freed 23 businessmen who had been on trial for alleged Islamic extremism.
The attackers then seized a local administration building and about 70 hostages, as thousands of demonstrators gathered in an adjacent square.
Human rights groups alleged the revolt led to a brutal government crackdown, which killed more than 700 people, mostly civilians shot while trying to flee the square.
The government of President Islam Karimov, a hardline former Soviet-era autocrat, said 187 people died, mostly militants.
Sobirov and 14 others pleaded guilty Tuesday to participating in the uprising.
Prosecutors said the 15 men were linked to a Muslim extremist conspiracy to overthrow the government and create an Islamic state.
In his hourlong testimony on Wednesday, Sobirov told the court he presented the military plan for the revolt to the alleged plot leader, Kabuljon Parpiyev.
He described planning with his comrades to create an Islamic state in Uzbekistan, and how militants were trained in camps in neighbouring Kyrgyzstan.
Uzbek rights activist Surat Ikramov said Tuesday he believed the men had been forced to confess under torture.
Western human rights groups also released reports alleging that Uzbek police had engaged in a brutal intimidation campaign, which included forcing people to confess membership in extremist religious groups.
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