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Security forces in Tajikistan killed two alleged drug smugglers from Afghanistan who crossed the border overnight, the Tajik government said on Friday. The incursion happened around 1 a.m. in the Farkhor district of the Khatlon region, and border guards and other national security troops disrupted the attempt to smuggle 25 kilograms of hashish, Tajikistan’s State Committee for National Security said. “The smugglers disobeyed the border patrol's lawful demands to surrender and offered armed resistance,” the committee said, according to state news agency Khovar. It said two of the smugglers were killed during “the combat operation” and that a third suspect escaped in the darkness. The committee described the situation at the border with Afghanistan as “under control.” On April 8, delegates from border agencies of some countries belonging to the Commonwealth of Independent States, a regional group linked by past Soviet ties, assessed the Afghanistan situation during a meeting in Tajikistan. “There is general agreement that the unstable military-political and economic situation in Afghanistan will have a destructive impact on border security in the Central Asian region in the medium term,” the agencies said. Last year, a number of Chinese workers in Tajikistan were killed in cross-border attacks from Afghanistan, prompting the Chinese government to urge the Tajik government to take more robust steps to protect Chinese citizens and businesses. At the time, Tajik President Emomali Rahmon and senior security officials discussed ways to strengthen the southern border with Afghanistan, whose ruling Taliban movement promised to help find the attackers. The border between the two countries is rugged and mountainous in many places and is about 1,370 kilometers long, making it difficult to monitor.
Russia’s human rights commissioner Tatyana Moskalkova has received a positive response from Emomali Rahmon regarding the possible transfer of around 200 Tajik women currently serving sentences in Russian prisons, according to TASS. Moskalkova said she had written to the Tajik president requesting that the women be allowed to continue serving their sentences in Tajikistan on humanitarian grounds. “In each case, we must carefully weigh issues of justice, mercy, and humanism,” she said in an interview with TASS. She noted that while most cases confirm that crimes were committed, the severity of punishment should not always be maximal. “Sometimes leniency helps a person reform, repent, and change for the better. That is why we try in each case to find arguments that could support leniency, especially for women,” she said. According to Moskalkova, foreign women prisoners face additional challenges, including limited access to family visits and difficulties receiving parcels from relatives. These factors were among the reasons behind her appeal to Tajik authorities. She also pointed to broader policy developments in Russia’s penal system, citing improvements in detention conditions under the country’s penal reform strategy through 2030. Moskalkova highlighted recent legislation limiting pretrial detention for women with young children who have committed non-violent offenses. In addition, she said she has repeatedly asked courts to grant deferrals of sentences for women with children under the age of 14, thanking the judiciary for what she described as “understanding and positive decisions” in such cases. Earlier this month, Moskalkova said Russia was prepared to facilitate the transfer of more than 3,000 Uzbek nationals convicted in Russia to serve their sentences in Uzbekistan. However, she noted that the process remains stalled due to legal constraints, including Uzbekistan’s failure to ratify the 1998 Convention on the Transfer of Sentenced Persons.
Organizers of the deadly attack at the Crocus City Hall concert venue near Moscow had initially planned a second, simultaneous attack in the Russian capital but later abandoned the idea, according to materials from the ongoing investigation cited by TASS. A participant in the court proceedings told the agency that investigators had identified a coordinator operating from abroad, known by the alias Saifullo, who had prepared a group of recruited and trained attackers for two separate operations in Moscow. The second attack was intended to take place at the same time as the assault on Crocus City Hall, with two individuals assigned to carry it out and three others designated for the concert venue. However, shortly before the attack, the plan was revised. Instead of dividing their forces, the organizers decided to concentrate on a single target, reinforcing the group assigned to Crocus City Hall. The exact location and method of the planned second attack were not disclosed in the case materials, although investigators noted it was also intended to result in mass casualties. According to TASS, one week before the attack the coordinator informed the perpetrators that an additional individual, previously assigned to the second operation, would join the group targeting Crocus City Hall. Several suspects linked to the case have been placed on Russia’s list of designated terrorists, while the alleged coordinator remains at large abroad. As previously reported by The Times of Central Asia, a man sentenced to life imprisonment in connection with the attack died in pretrial detention, in what Russian authorities described as suicide. Investigations into the organization and execution of the Crocus City Hall attack are ongoing.
A man sentenced to life imprisonment in connection with the deadly attack at the Crocus City Hall concert venue near Moscow has died in pretrial detention. Russian authorities said the death is being treated as a suicide. The development was reported by RBC, citing the Federal Penitentiary Service. In a statement reported by RBC, officials said the incident occurred at the Matrosskaya Tishina detention center in Moscow. Medical staff attempted resuscitation, but the efforts were unsuccessful. Authorities added that an internal review has been launched, with results expected in due course. Due to personal data protection laws, officials initially withheld the identity of the deceased. However, RBC later reported, citing a lawyer representing victims, that the individual was Yakubjoni Davlatkhon Yusufzoda, a citizen of Tajikistan who had been convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment earlier in March. The case is linked to the high-profile Crocus City Hall attack in March 2024, which resulted in multiple casualties and drew widespread international attention. According to Russia’s Investigative Committee, Yusufzoda was accused of assisting those involved in the attack, including facilitating financial transfers before and after the incident. He was detained in late March 2024 during a law enforcement operation and later charged under terrorism-related provisions of the Russian Criminal Code. RBC also reported that another defendant in the same case, Jabrail Aushev, had previously attempted self-harm but was prevented by detention center staff. Authorities said reports of a new incident involving Aushev on the same day were inaccurate. Earlier in March, the Western District Military Court sentenced several individuals identified as direct perpetrators of the attack to life imprisonment, along with others described by investigators as accomplices. Both the defense and victims’ representatives have since appealed the verdict, arguing that the sentences were, respectively, too severe and too lenient.
Police officers in Dushanbe have been equipped with electric scooters to patrol the streets of the Tajik capital. The Ministry of Internal Affairs said the initiative is intended to improve police efficiency and strengthen public safety. “In order to enhance security and maintain public order, police officers in the capital have been provided with electric patrol scooters,” the ministry said in an official statement. The new scooters are fitted with special equipment required for law enforcement duties, including signal beacons and sound systems. According to the ministry, the scooters can travel up to 100 kilometers on a single charge, making them suitable for daily patrols. “In the future, police officers in the capital will use these scooters in public spaces. This will help improve the effectiveness of police work and contribute to a greater sense of safety among residents,” the statement added. The use of compact electric transport in policing is becoming increasingly widespread. Such solutions enable officers to move more quickly in pedestrian areas, parks, and crowded locations where the use of patrol cars may be impractical. A similar approach has already been tested in Kazakhstan. At the end of August 2025, a large-scale operation was conducted in Almaty to monitor compliance with regulations on electric scooter use. Fifty police officers on electric scooters took part. The Almaty Police Department said that using this type of transport allowed officers to respond more quickly to offenses. According to police representatives, electric scooters help officers operate efficiently in crowded areas and in locations that are difficult for vehicles to access, while also facilitating preventive engagement with the public. Officials say that the pilot initiative was successful. Following the initial operations, discussions began on the possibility of introducing electric transport as a permanent feature of urban policing.
The issue of extremely rare acquittals in Tajikistan has once again become the focus of public debate following a statement by the chairman of the Supreme Court. The authorities explain these statistics by pointing to the high quality of investigative and judicial work, while lawyers cite systemic problems related to objectivity and respect for human rights. Supreme Court Chairman Rustam Mirzozoda said at a press conference that the absence of acquittals reflects compliance with the law and the professional performance of law enforcement agencies. According to him, each criminal case is examined in strict accordance with the requirements of the Criminal Procedure Code, and courts do not issue acquittals because the defendants’ actions are determined to constitute a crime. In 2025, city and district courts referred 16 criminal cases involving 21 individuals for further investigation, but all of the defendants were subsequently convicted. By comparison, in previous years acquittals were handed down, albeit extremely rarely: three cases in 2023, 11 in 2021, and two in 2020. Even then, they accounted for less than 1% of the total number of decisions. Part of the legal community views the absence of acquittals as an alarming signal. Lawyer Navruz Odinaev notes that in developed legal systems, acquittals are a normal part of the criminal process. In his view, the lack of acquittals requires serious analysis, as it affects the fundamental principles of justice, fairness, judicial independence, and the presumption of innocence. Lawyer Uguloy Bobova highlights another aspect, the potential reputational consequences for law enforcement agencies. An acquittal means that a person’s freedom was unlawfully restricted and therefore that investigative authorities made an error. In addition, an acquittal entails full rehabilitation and entitles the individual to compensation, creating additional legal and reputational risks for the state. Statistics show that the proportion of acquittals in Tajikistan has remained below 1% in recent years. In international practice, such a low figure is often regarded as an indicator of a possible bias toward conviction in criminal proceedings.
