A court in Uzbekistan has begun hearings in the trial of 22 people charged with provoking unrest sparked in the autonomous republic of Karakalpakstan in early July by planned changes to the constitution.

The most prominent among the figures going on trial at the Bukhara provincial court from November 28, Dauletmurat Tazhimuratov, a Nukus-based activist who has been held incommunicado by the authorities, is being charged on multiple counts, including trying to seize power through violence.

Also on trial is Lolagul Kallykhanova, a journalist, who is similarly charged with plotting to seize power, instigating public unrest, and involvement in a conspiracy to inflict bodily harm. Kallykhanova, like Tazhimuratov and many other people accused of offenses related to the July unrest, have been kept away from the public eye since that time.

Hearings are being conducted in the Karakalpak language, according to reporters in the court.

Investigations into the days of disturbances that tore through the Karakalpak capital of Nukus and nearby towns on July 1-2 have been conducted under a heavy cloak of secrecy, but the authorities appear determined to give the trial the semblance of transparency. Although the public was not informed in advance that hearings were due to begin, select journalists have been permitted to attend the proceedings.

According to official information, at least 21 people, including four law enforcement officials, were killed during clashes that the authorities say caused around $300,000 worth of damage to businesses and government buildings.

The troubles began on July 1 with peaceful protests in downtown Nukus against proposed changes to the constitution that would have diluted the special status that Karakalpakstan enjoys as Uzbekistan’s only autonomous territory. Under the constitution, Karakalpakstan is notionally entitled to invoke a referendum to secede from Uzbekistan. That privilege would have been eliminated under proposed amendments that were hastily scrapped after the Nukus events.

But what began as a peaceable and rare show of mass discontent degenerated into violence. Eyewitnesses on the scene have told Eurasianet that law enforcement used violent measures and live weapons to disperse the crowd. Prosecutors at the trial are poised to argue that the violence had been preplanned by nebulous conspirators outside Uzbekistan plotting to cause political unrest with a view to toppling the government.

Getting reliable information out of Karakalpakstan as the events were unfolding proved close to impossible, however, following the imposition of a state of emergency that lasted for weeks. Over that period, internet connections were down and phones worked only intermittently.

While the prosecution has been assembling its case, Uzbek authorities have been pursuing the extradition of Karakalpak activists based in neighboring Kazakhstan, several of whom have been detained by Kazakh law enforcement. Relatives of one of these, Raisa Khudaibergenova, who has been languishing in a pretrial detention facility in Almaty for two months, have said her health is worsening, news website Vlast reported on November 28.

“My mother has been working as a doctor in Almaty for more than 20 years. She is a person with disabilities … and a mother of four children,” Khudaibergenova’s daughter, Gulzhaina Saparniyazova, told journalists.