[JURIST] The Uzbekistan Supreme Court Tuesday took the remarkable step of issuing a statement defending its recently-concluded trial of 15 individuals accused of leading a May, 2005 uprising [JURIST report] in the town of Andijan which led to the 15 being sentenced to 14 to 20 years in prison [BBC report; JURIST report]. Responding to international criticism and expressions of concern from the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights [JURIST report], the US State Department [press release] and private rights groups, the Court insisted the trial was held "in accordance with national legislation" and was consistent with the norms of international law regarding protection of human rights. The Court also suggested that "'serious concerns' about Uzbekistan expressed by the Western states, which themselves had suffered from terrorist attacks, call [for] some kind of bewilderment and doubts on sincerity of the expressed feelings." Read the full text of the court's statement via China's Peoples' Daily.