WASHINGTON, July 2 (RIA Novosti) – The trial in US District Court in Boise, Idaho, of an Uzbek truck driver accused of terrorism-related charges has been delayed for a year, an official from the US Attorney’s office said Tuesday.
The case of 30-year-old Fazliddin Kurbanov, which was supposed to begin Tuesday, has been delayed until July 1, 2014, Aaron Lucoff, chief of the criminal division of the US Attorney's office in Boise told RIA Novosti.
Federal prosecutors last week asked for Kurbanov’s trial to be pushed back, saying the case against the refugee from Uzbekistan was too complex to argue in court on the scheduled date.
Kurbanov came to the United States in 2009 as political unrest rocked his central Asian homeland. He was arrested on May 17 at his apartment in Boise after what prosecutors said was a long investigation into his activities in 2012 and this year.
When he appeared in court on the day of his arrest, Kurbanov pleaded not guilty with the help of an interpreter to charges of providing material support and resources, including computer software and money, to the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, a group the US government designated as a foreign terrorist organization.
Kurbanov has also been indicted in Utah, on charges of teaching others how to make a weapon of mass destruction. Those charges will be handled after the Idaho case has been resolved.
Kurbanov will be held in a county jail in Boise until his trial, media reports said.
