Uzbeks campaign for economic rights and release of prisoners, 2005
In June of 2004, police arrested twenty-three businessmen in the Uzbek city of Andijan for their supposed connection to Akramia, an Islamic extremist group. These businessmen enjoyed considerable support among the Andijan population, because they employed many locals at higher wages than other companies did. The national government, however, saw these businessmen as a nuisance. After the 1999 Tashkent bombings, the Uzbek government cracked down on Muslims, and made it much harder for Muslims to have their own businesses. The twenty-three Muslim businessmen in Andijan