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19 August 2009, 11:48Hizb ut-Tahrir actively recruits new members in Kyrgyz jails
Bishkek, August 19, Interfax - The Hizb ut-Tahrir organization, which is officially outlawed in Kyrgyzstan and other Central Asian countries, has stepped up its activities in penitentiaries across Kyrgyzstan, which has led to an increase in the number of its supporters among convicts, Kyrgyz expert Kadyr Malikov said.
"There has been a sharp rise in the number of supporters of the Hizb ut-Tahrir extremist organization in the system of the Justice Ministry's Chief Penitentiary Institutions Department," Malikov, who is director of Kyrgyzstan's analytical and research center of religion, law and politics, told journalists on Wednesday.
"The party has changed some instruments of its work. For instance, Hizb ut-Tahrir pledges to provide complete or partial financial assistance for the families of its members who are currently serving their prison sentences," the expert said.
One of the problems is that people convicted of extremism and other crimes are sent to the same prisons [as other types of offenders], he said.
"Representatives of this radical organization are now switching to so-called "social projects", simultaneously inserting its members into governmental institutions, including the security services," Malikov said.
According to experts, there are between 5,000 and 10,000 Hizb ut-Tahrir supporters in Kyrgyzstan.
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