(TASHKENT) - The trial of a human rights activist and translator for New York-based Human Rights Watch was postponed here on Thursday, ahead of an EU decision on whether to drop sanctions against the country.

Umida Niyazova, 32, was arrested in January as she entered the country from Kyrgyzstan and was charged with illegally crossing the border, smuggling and distributing publications threatening the public order.

Human Rights Watch calls the charges politically motivated and says that Niyazova faces 10 years in jail.

The postponement comes as Uzbekistan is trying to persuade Brussels to lift sanctions related to the bloody government crackdown on demonstrators in Andijan in 2005.

The EU imposed sanctions when Uzbekistan failed to launch an independent probe into the massacre, though it is due next month to consider dropping them.

No new trial date was given to activists, journalists and Western diplomats who arrived at Sergeli district court for the hearing on Thursday.

Uzbek authorities say that 187 people were killed in Andijan, all due to the actions of Islamic insurgents, while rights groups say that security forces killed hundreds of mainly unarmed protesters.

At least 15 human rights activists are currently in jail in Uzbekistan on politically motivated charges, Human Rights Watch says.

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