The Wire

Uzbekistan’s government has come under considerable pressure this week, following the massacre last Friday of hundreds of civilians by heavily armed troops. The streets of the city of Andijan in the country’s east had been full of people protesting against the regime of President Islam Karimov and the arrest of 23 local businessmen, accused of being Islamic extremists. Adelaide University Asian Studies lecturer Dr John Bruni says like many former Soviet Republics, Uzbekistan is independent in name only.