Thursday, July 19, 2012 -
Uzbek government authorities are most likely behind the attack of an Uzbek imam living in Sweden, a Swedish prosecutor trying the case said on Wednesday.
Uzbekistan’s secret services are believed to be behind the attempted murder, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) reported Swedish Chief Public Prosecutor Krister Petersson as saying in court.
The Swedish court has charged an Uzbek couple with the attempted murder of an outspoken critic of the Uzbek president, a critic who has lived in Sweden as a political refugee since 2006.
Imam Obidkhon Qori Nazarov, 50, was shot three times in the head by a gun with a silencer in the stairwell of a building in the northwestern Swedish town of Stromsund in February. He has not left the hospital since the attack.
Sweden opened the trial against the two Uzbek nationals accused of the attempted murder earlier this month. The verdict is expected to be reached on July 26.