Uzbekistan Closes Down Religious Bookstores

Uzbek security services have closed down twenty bookstores specializing in religious literature. The bookstores were located in the Kitoblar dunyosi (World of Books) book trading center in Tashkent, which was the only place allowed to sell books on religion, primarily on Islam and mainly published in Uzbekistan. Human rights groups say many people have been labeled "extremists" and jailed for peacefully practicing their religion. The government is also getting tougher on importing and disseminating religious literature. In particular, officials have confirmed around 15,000 Bibles have been confiscated in the past year. http://www.rferl.org/content/uzbekistan_religious_bookstores_censorship/3541343.html