AN UZBEK court jailed 15 men yesterday for staging an uprising in the eastern city of Andijan that ended with troops shooting protesters in the worst such massacre since Tiananmen Square.

The men were sentenced to from 14 to 20 years in jail after what human rights groups attacked as a Stalinist show trial based on evidence extracted by intimidation and torture.

As the verdict was delivered Islam Karimov, Uzbekistan’s President, was receiving a red carpet welcome in Moscow where he sealed a new military alliance with President Putin.

The two countries agreed to help each other in the event of an attack, highlighting Moscow’s growing influence in Uzbekistan since the massacre — at America’s expense.

Rights activists and protesters say that up to 500 people, mostly unarmed civilians, were killed when security forces opened fire on anti-government protesters on May 13. Uzbek authorities say that 187 were killed, mostly Islamic militants, and Mr Karimov has dismissed Western calls for an international inquiry.

The 15 defendants, who all confessed and pleaded guilty, stood with heads bowed inside a metal cage for five hours as the judge read out testimony supporting the official version of events. “The court found them guilty of terrorism, attempting to overthrow the constitutional system, first degree murder and the taking of hostages,” said the court deputy chairman, Bakhtiyar Jamalov.

He said the accused received terrorist training in neighbouring Kyrgyzstan and staged the uprising, in collusion with the Western media, as part of a plot to set up an Islamic state. “There’s nothing in the Government’s case that would allow us to believe that this was a fair outcome,” Holly Cartner, of Human Rights Watch, said.

When the US joined other Western governments in demanding an international inquiry into Andijan, President Karimov gave it six months to leave a military base near the Afghan border.

Russia has moved to restore its influence in Uzbekistan and Central Asia, which it considers its strategic backyard. It has backed the Uzbek Government’s version of events in Andijan, and analysts said that yesterday’s pact could lead to Russia establishing a military base in Uzbekistan.

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