New convert gets 10 years
Thursday, March 11, 2010 at 05:05PM 
Tohar Haydarov is a member of an unregistered Baptist church in the town of Gulistan. According to the members of his church, Tohar’s relatives asked local police in January to help them force Tohar to return to Islam. The police put great physical pressure on Tohar to deny Jesus, but he refused to do so.
On 18 January 2010 he was arrested and charged with producing and storing drugs after drugs were found in his pockets and in his apartment. Three days later, Tohar made a brief court appearance. Church members reported that he could hardly walk and showed signs of having been badly beaten.
At a court hearing on 4 March, church members were not allowed to testify on Tohar’s behalf and his lawyer was not allowed into the courtroom. Tohar’s father (72) attended the hearing to support his son. The next day, he was found dead in the family’s garage. Police concluded that he died by accidentally falling onto an electric heater. Five days later, Tohar was convicted of manufacturing and possessing drugs and sentenced to ten years imprisonment.
His fellow believers insist that the case has been fabricated and that the police planted the drugs on him. Several acquaintances have supplied written statements to the police, claiming his innocence.
Tohar has since been transferred to a labour camp in Qarshi, 400km from his hometown. He is preparing to appeal to the Supreme Court.
More different sources:
Forum 18, Prisoner Alert, The Voice of the Martyrs (Canada)
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