When show trials go bad

For the last few weeks, Uzbekistan has been running show trials for fifteen "militants" who led the protests in Andijan - the participants of which were subsequently ruthlessly slaughtered by government troops in the worst massacre since Tiananmen Square. Yesterday, though, thinks went wrong, when a witness refused to stick to the government's script:

Makhbuba Zakirova told the court that she saw soldiers shooting at people waving a white flag.

"Even Hitler did not do such things," she said.

[...]

Mrs Zakirova, 33, said she mingled with anti-government protesters in the city square while walking with her children.

She said she stayed out of curiosity when she heard Uzbek President Islam Karimov was supposed to talk with the protesters.

"There were people in helmets everywhere. I twice saw soldiers shooting from military vehicles. The shooting was intense," she said, the Reuters news agency reported.

She also seemed fully aware of what this entailed:

Mrs Zakirova was interrupted by the prosecutor, who asked: "Do you realise what you are saying? Are you sure?"

She replied: "Are you going to arrest me now? I was telling only the truth, and you yourself asked me to give a truthful testimony... I am only saying what I saw."

I salute her bravery in standing up to tell the true story of what happened at Andijan - but given the nature of the Uzbek regime, she'll probably soon be joining the others in the dock.