A/HRC/10/8/Add.1 page 54 A. Yuldashev amongst others”. Mr. Tursinov Kamaliev is accused of propagating ideas of this organisation in Andijan, calling for the unconstitutional change of state regime by sacral war. Mr. Tursinov Kamaliev denies these allegations and any connections with members of the “Wahhabi” organisation. Response from the Government dated 22 April 2008 205. In its response, the Government of Uzbekistan noted that Mr. Tursinov Kamaliev was a member of a “Wahhabi” religious extremist organization, whose purpose was unconstitutional change of the Republic of Uzbekistan’s system of government. He took an active part in its unlawful activities through the dissemination of ideas that fanned religious hatred and the recruitment of citizens into its ranks. According to the information available, on 11 March 1999 proceedings were instituted against Mr. Tursinov by the Namangan provincial procurator’s office on evidence that he had committed the offence referred to in article 159, part 1, of the Uzbek Criminal Code. As a result of Mr. Tursinov’s flight from investigators, on 17 March 1999 he was indicted in absentia under article 159, part 1, of the Uzbek Criminal Code and a search warrant was issued for him by the police. 206. Mr. Tursinov was subsequently detained, investigation of the case was reinstituted and he was charged under articles 156 (3) (e), 159 (3) (b) and 244 (2) of the Uzbek Criminal Code and handed over to the courts. By decision of the Namangan provincial criminal court dated 27 February 2008, Mr. Tursinov was convicted of multiple offences under articles 156 (3) (e) and 159 (3) (b) of the Uzbek Criminal Code and sentenced to serve 11 years under an ordinary penal regime; he was acquitted of offences under article 244 (2) of the Uzbek Criminal Code. During the hearings, Mr. Tursinov partially admitted his guilt and testified that in 1993 he did indeed become a member of the religious extremist organization “Tablikh”, part of the “Wahhabi” sect, and that in it he was involved in recruitment of citizens from among his acquaintances to join the organization. After the arrest of a number of other adherents of the organization, he emigrated to the Russian Federation, where he married Ms. Kamalieva and took up residence with her. He views his involvement in the activities of the religious extremist organization as an error and has accordingly requested the court’s clemency. In addition to the above, Mr. Tursinov’s guilt has been demonstrated by the testimony of witnesses Z. Kadyrov, A. Israilov, O. Vakhabov, S. Kakhkharov and K. Boimirzaev, records of the confrontation of witnesses and other criminal case records. 207. The arguments advanced in the joint letter by the Special Rapporteurs about Mr. Tursinov’s having been subjected to torture and other unlawful methods of investigation for the purpose of obtaining a confession from him have not been corroborated by the Government of Uzbekistan. From the time of his arrest and throughout the subsequent period of his pre-trial detention and the judicial examination of the case, Mr. Tursinov voluntarily and with exceptional consistency gave self-incriminatory evidence that was objectively confirmed by other proof collected. All legal proceedings with regard to Mr. Tursinov were carried out with the participation of his counsel, Ms. B. Nurmukhammedova, who made no complaints of unlawful techniques of investigation during the conduct of the trial or afterwards. 208. The court’s verdict entered into force on 11 March 2008 but no appeal or application for cassation or judicial review was submitted by Mr. Tursinov or his counsel. The court correctly