TASHKENT (RFE/RL) -- Police in Tashkent detained 28 women this week for alleged religious extremism, and their relatives have alleged that the detainees were abused in custody.

 An unnamed source in the Tashkent police told RFE/RL's Uzbek Service that two of the women are regional leaders of the banned Hizb ut-Tahrir party.  The arrested women are reportedly related to people who have been sentenced for involvement in Hizb ut-Tahrir activities in the past.

Shahlo Sultonova, the mother-in-law of one female detainee, told RFE/RL that police tortured her daughter-in-law in an effort to get her to make a confession.

She added that the detained group of women was filmed for a pornographic video and were warned that similar videos would be shot if they did not confess to a crime.

The chief of the police investigation on the case confirmed that the women had been arrested but gave no further details.

Source