Recently when I told you about another Uzbek refugee already in prison on terror charges after a guilty verdict in an Idaho trial, here, I wondered what happened to Jamshid Muhtorov who I wrote about in 2012, here. By the way, the Idaho Uzbek refugee, Fazliddin Kurbanov, made news again when he attempted to kill the prison warden, see here.
Before I give you the latest on Muhtorov, the big question remains:
Why were we bringing in this group of known Uzbek troublemakers anyway? Some didn’t even want to be here!
As one of my knowledgeable readers suggests, maybe the reason Muhtorov has not gone to trial yet is that the government might have to reveal why the Bush Administration was taking in Uzbek dissidents as legitimate refugees in the first place!
Here is what we learned last week. The short article says there was supposed to have been a hearing on Monday, July 3, but we don’t see any news yet on that.
From the Associated Press (hat tip: Joanne):
DENVER — A court has barred the release of a man detained for 5½ years for allegedly providing material support to an Uzbek terror organization.
The Denver Post reports the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals issued its temporary stay at the request of the U.S. Attorney’s Office, which appealed a federal judge’s order to release Jamshid Muhtorov. The appeals court will hold a hearing Monday.
Muhtorov argues his right to a speedy trial has been violated, and on June 23, a federal judge ordered his release before trial.
Muhtorov, whose trial is expected to begin early next year, is accused of supporting the Islamic Jihad Union and communicating with its website administrator. He denied the allegations after his January 2012 arrest, saying he was going to visit family in Uzbekistan.
Memory lane: I first testified here in 2012 to the US State Department that the refugee program should be for legitimate refugees and should not be used for extracurricular foreign policy objectives like currying favor with other governments by taking troublemakers off their hands. (Ten reasons for a moratorium, #7)
I believe that happened with the Uzbeks, Bosnians, with the Meshketian Turks/Russia and it is happening again with the Trump Administration plan to admit Australian rejected (mostly Muslim) asylum seekers.
