Arrest - The Times Of Central Asia

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New York NGO Calls on Tajik Authorities to Release Journalist Ahmad Ibrohim

The New York-based press freedom NGO the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has called on the Tajik authorities to release journalist Ahmad Ibrohim. Ibrohim is the founder and editor-in-chief of Paiq, the only independent newspaper in Tajikistan's Khatlon region. According to Radio Ozodi sources, Ibrohim was detained on August 12. CPJ expressed concern that his arrest underscores the dangers journalists in Tajikistan face. CPJ's Program Coordinator for Europe and Central Asia, Gulnoza Said, said Tajik authorities should release Ibrohim and seven other journalists imprisoned for their professional activities, and ensure media freedom. Officials have not yet provided information about Ibrohim's detention, and his relatives refuse to comment. However, a source in the security services said that a criminal case had been opened against him under Article 320 of the Criminal Code (bribery), allegedly for attempting to bribe a government official to extend Paiq's registration. This is not the first instance of government pressure on Paiq. In 2014, the regional prosecutor's office stopped the newspaper from operating, citing problems with renewing its registration. Despite this, Ahmad Ibrohim continued to work, remaining one of the few independent journalists in the region.

Prosecutor Arrest

Journalist and Politician Ahmadshokh Komilzoda Detained in Tajikistan

Journalist and first deputy chairman of the Democratic Party of Tajikistan Ahmadshokh Komilzoda has been detained in Dushanbe. A source in Tajikistan's law enforcement agencies said on condition of anonymity that Komilzoda has been held in a pre-trial detention center since June 15. He declined to provide other details. Another source close to Tajikistan's Prosecutor General's Office confirmed Komilzoda's detention, adding that his computer and a second phone were seized on June 16. According to him, "Komilzoda's detention is related to the case of Saidjafar Usmonzod, a member of parliament and former chairman of the Democratic Party," who was detained on June 12 in Dushanbe on suspicion of attempting to seize power. The source also reported that "a criminal case has been opened against Ahmadshokh Komilzoda," but did not know under which article. Ahmadshokh Komilzoda was an active member of the Rastokhez movement and director of Tajikistan Television in the late 1990s. In 1993, he was held along with several other journalists, who spent time in detention. Komilzoda was also a spokesman for the National Reconciliation Commission, which was established after the signing of the peace agreement which ended the civil war. Until 2011, he was a correspondent for Voice of America in Tajikistan.

Security Arrest Tajikistan

Prominent Political Figure Akbarsho Iskandarov Detained in Tajikistan

The former Chairman of the Supreme Soviet of Tajikistan, Akbarsho Iskandarov, has been detained in Dushanbe. During the wave of conflicts in the early 1990s, he took over as the Chairman of Parliament and served as Tajikistan's acting president. In recent years, he worked at the Institute of Philosophy, Political Science, and Law of the Academy of Sciences. Prior to this, for many years he served as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Tajikistan to Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, and Mongolia. The General Prosecutor's Office summoned Akbarsho Iskandarov for questioning on June 13 and 14, following which they did not release him. The reason he was interviewed and the grounds on which he has been detained are unknown. "Investigators of the General Prosecutor's Office questioned about 50 people during these days and released them on their recognizance, while Akbarsho Iskandarov was not released," a source stated. Officials and relatives of Akbarsho Iskandarov have refused to comment. Iskandarov was detained after MP Saidjafar Usmonzoda and former Foreign Minister Hamrokhon Zarifi were also held in custody. It is not known whether these detentions are related.

Arrest Opposition

Former Opposition Party Leader Saidjafar Usmonzoda Arrested in Tajikistan

Saidjafar Usmonzoda, a member of parliament and former chairman of the Democratic Party of Tajikistan, has been stripped of his parliamentary immunity and arrested in Dushanbe. The decision to strip Usmonzoda of immunity was made at a meeting of the fifth session of the Majlisi Namoyandagon (parliament) at the suggestion of Tajikistan's Prosecutor General, the Khovar news agency has reported. A preliminary investigation found that in September 2021, Usmonzoda spoke on a cell phone with Sharofiddin Gadoev, deputy head of the extremist terrorist organization, Paimoni Milli Tochikiston, discussing plans to usurp state power in Tajikistan. According to the investigation, Gadoev promised that to achieve this goal, the head of the Islamic Renaissance Party, which is banned in Tajikistan, Mukhiddin Kabiri, would provide financial assistance and more than 3,000 fighters from the terrorist organization Jamaat Ansarulloh from abroad. According to law enforcement, Usmonzoda recruited supporters from various social strata inside and outside the country to destabilize the sociopolitical situation in several regions in the shortest possible time, seizing law enforcement agencies and military structures, taking weapons, and violently overthrowing the state. According to the investigation materials, to implement these plans, Usmonzoda requested $10 million from a representative of a foreign country to attract influential persons and organize rallies. On June 12th, 2024, a criminal case was initiated against Usmonzoda and his associates, with Usmonzoda being arrested as a suspect.

Arrest Abuse of Power Security Turgumbayev Kazakhstan

Kazakhstan Charges Former Minister Yerlan Turgumbayev With Abuse of Power

Kazakhstan's General Prosecutor's Office has confirmed its detention of a former high-ranking police officer. Yerlan Turgumbayev, the country's former minister of internal affairs, has been charged with abuse of power, resulting in grave consequences, during the public unrest and political upheaval in January 2022. "The Prosecutor General's Office continues to investigate criminal cases related to the January 2022 events. On April 29, ex-Minister of Internal Affairs Yerlan Turgumbayev was detained for abuse of power and official authority that caused grave consequences," the prosecutor's office said in an official statement. The office mentioned that the criminal case contains information that includes classified state secrets; therefore, the data, findings and statements included in the pre-trial investigation are not subject to disclosure. As has already been widely reported, in early 2022 in Kazakhstan thousands of protests were organized across the country, which, when brutally suppressed by government forces, went down in history as Qandy Qantar -- "Bloody January." What began as peaceful anti-government demonstrations turned into uncontrolled riots with numerous casualties among the civilian population. Rapid response forces from the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), which includes Armenia, Russia, Kyrgyzstan, Belarus and Kazakhstan, were deployed. After the violent suppression of the protests, a number of high-ranking officials were arrested and accused of attempting a coup d'état. In March 2024, the General Prosecutor's Office reported that Turgumbayev was being questioned as part of ongoing investigations against security officials for failing to ensure law and order and public security during the January events, as well as for torturing citizens. Turgumbayev became head of the Interior Ministry in 2019. Before that he headed the police department of Kazakhstan's largest city, Almaty. In February 2022 he was dismissed from his post and appointed as an adviser to Kazakhstan's president, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev.