His crime, like that of many of the country's prisoners, was practising his religion. Islam Karimov, thepresident of Uzbekistan, learnt his politics from the Soviet Union. He was appointed under the old system, andits collapse in 1991 did not interrupt his rule. An Islamic terrorist network has been operating there, butKarimov makes no distinction between peaceful Muslims and terrorists: anyone who worships privately, who doesnot praise the president during his prayers or who joins an organisation which has not been approved by thestate can be imprisoned. [5] Political dissidents, human rights activists and homosexuals receive the sametreatment. Some of them, like dissidents in the old Soviet Union, are sent to psychiatric hospitals. [6]