Police arrest at least two dozen in Uzbekistan protest

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AZIZ NURITOV

Associated Press


TASHKENT, Uzbekistan - At least two dozen people were in police custody Thursday following a violent police sweep through a tent camp erected by protesters near the U.S. Embassy in Tashkent, authorities and relatives said.

A police official in Shakhrisabz, some 250 miles south of Tashkent, confirmed that 12 men who were arrested in the Tuesday night raid were in custody but refused to give a precise number.

Relatives, however, said at least 12 other people had been arrested by Shakhrisabz police Thursday morning after they attended a meeting with local officials.

Several dozen people - mainly relatives of a farmer whose land was seized by authorities and who was granted asylum in the U.S. in January - set up the tents outside the embassy early Tuesday, demanding the return of their farm property or asylum in the United States. <snip>

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