Human rights defender arrested in Uzbekistan

Human rights defender Gulbakhor Turaeva has been arrested in Uzbekistan. Turaeva, who is from Andijon and a doctor by training, was arrested on Sunday on the border between Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan.

She is apparently accused of attempting to smuggle prohibited political literature into Uzbekistan. Gulbakhor Turaeva witnessed the bloody events in Andijon in May 2005 and was one of the few who reported what she had seen to western correspondents.