On May 13th 2005, Uzbek government forces shot dead hundreds of unarmed protesters at a demonstration in eastern Andijan. The United Nations and other intergovernmental organisations documented the massacre, but the authorities continue to refuse an independent investigation into the events, and persecute those who seek such an enquiry.
The massacre is widely believed to be the worst atrocity committed by a government against demonstrators since the Chinese army killed several hundred protesters in Tiananmen Square in 1989.
This video has been taken from an Uzbekistan regime propaganda film which was produced to deny the massacre ever occurred and portray the dead as "terrorists".
It shows an interview with Lecturer in Central Asian Studies at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London, Dr Shirin Akiner, who has been condemned by human rights groups, liberty campaigners and Craig Murray (ex-UK Ambassador in Tashkent) as the leading Western apologist for brutal Uzbek dictator President Karimov.
In the interview, which was conducted in Russian and later dubbed into English by Uzbekistan State TV, Dr Akiner attempts to downplay and justify the horrific murders by Karimov's regime.
