Tajik authorities have seized the property of a recently detained group of prominent political figures, as well as property belonging to their close relatives.
Sources say investigators have seized the bank accounts of ex-Democratic Party chairman and former MP Saidjafar Usmonzoda, ex-Supreme Council chairman Akbarsho Iskandarov, ex-Foreign Minister Hamrokhon Zarifi, journalist and Democratic Party deputy chairman Ahmadshokh Komilzoda, Social Democratic Party of Tajikistan deputy chairman Shokirjon Khakimov, and their relatives.
Usmonzoda was detained in Dushanbe on 14 July. Authorities claim that he was planning to overthrow President Emomali Rahmon and his government. It is not clear whether the other political figures were arrested in connection with the same alleged plot.
A ban has been imposed on the sale or lease of residential houses and apartments, dachas, cars, and other movable and immovable property by members of their families.
In addition, relatives of the detainees report being pressured in other ways. One of them, who wished to remain anonymous, reported that he was dismissed from his job at the behest of official bodies.
Tajikistan’s Prosecutor General’s Office, which investigates cases against former political figures, has not provided details because the cases are classified. Relatives of the detainees have not yet been allowed to meet with them in the pre-trial detention center. Most lawyers refuse to defend the detainees and their relatives for fear of repurcussions.
