Ferghana.Ru reports that charges are being filed against high-level government officials from economic ministries. And the reason cited is pretty interesting.
There is no information on charges at this point. As local observers assumed, however, the events in Andizhan officially ascribed to international terrorism were actually sparked by the population’s disappointment with the economic policy of the state. They had to result in at least a partial revision of the policy in question.
As with just about anything the Uzbek government does, it is hard to say exactly what is going on. But blaming high-level bureaucrats for economic problems and leaving it at that (as opposed to, say, tacitly admitting that the real decision-makers have failed by implementing policy changes) certainly seems par for the course for the Uzbek government.
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Nathan Hamm – author of 2040 posts on Registan.net.
Nathan founded Registan.net in 2003. He was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Uzbekistan 2000-2001 and received his MA in Central Asian Studies from the University of Washington in 2007. Since 2007, he has worked full-time as an analyst, consulting with clients on Central Asian affairs, specializing in how socio-cultural factors shape risks and opportunities. Follow him on Twitter or drop him a line.