Human rights bodies say at least 500 people, including many women and children, were killed in Andizhan on May 13 when troops and security services shot into crowds of protesters.

Officials say 187 people died and that foreign-funded terrorists who follow radical Islam were to blame for the violence.

The first batch of 15 alleged Andizhan rebels will go on trial in Uzbekistan’s Supreme Court on September 20 charged with murder, mass unrest and attempting a coup.

But Karimov’s critics say the underlying cause of the Andizhan unrest was not Islamic extremism but anger over poverty and rampant corruption which is felt across the country and is likely to erupt into protests again.

Karimov cracks down hard on dissent but the critics also question whether, with no clear prospect of economic or political reforms, force alone will be enough to keep the nation of 26 million people in check.

“This repressive policy will lead to nothing good, and more severe shocks may await Uzbekistan,” independent Uzbek analyst Tashpulat Yuldashev told Reuters.

“Andizhan may be repeated several times, and fear may reign for a while,” Yuldashev said.

“But ... revenge will follow without fail, not only from Andizhan residents but across the whole Uzbek nation.”

Uzbekistan set the trial of the alleged Andizhan rioters after rejecting persistent international calls for an independent inquiry.

Karimov has restricted political freedoms in Uzbekistan since taking power when the country was still a Soviet republic.

He has sweeping powers, dissent is barely tolerated and only state-sponsored Islam is allowed.

Human rights bodies say there are thousands of religious and political prisoners in Uzbek jails, where torture is rife.

Karimov defends his methods by saying Uzbekistan, which borders Afghanistan, is under threat from Islamic extremists who want to overthrow secular rule.