Lawyer of Tajik Islamic Renaissance Party's leaders accused of fraud
DUSHANBE. Sept 29 (Interfax) - The Tajik Interior Ministry accused lawyer Buzurgmehr Yerov, who defends the interests of detained leaders of the largest opposition political force in the country - the Tajik Islamic Renaissance Party - of a massive, fraudulent misappropriation of funds.
Working as a lawyer in the Tajik Lawyer Collegium, Buzurgmehr Yerov "has misappropriated massive funds from people through fraud." In particular, in approximately July 2010, gaining the trust of Istaravshan resident Komiljon Bozorov, Yerov promised to help him relieve his son Dilshod Bozorov from criminal responsibility under criminal articles concerning 'attempted murder' and 'murder', via his ties to law enforcement and judicial bodies.
The lawyer took $4,000 from Bozorov and "spent it on his own needs, thus not giving any legal assistance," the press service said.
The agency said that Yerov used a forged vehicle test certificate.
Over these offences a criminal case was opened against the lawyer, including under criminal articles covering 'fraud' and 'counterfeiting'. The preliminary investigation is underway.
Yerov was summoned to the Tajik Interior Ministry's anti-organized crime department at noon on Monday, but the agency's press service did not report his detention until Tuesday morning.
The lawyer was summoned to the Interior Ministry, after sharing with journalists the details of his talks with his clients - activists of the Tajik Islamic Renaissance Party
A court representative told Interfax on Monday that "we have today received a request to recognize the activity of the Tajik Islamic Renaissance Party's activity as extremist, terrorist and correspondingly in violation of the law on political parties, which will most likely result in the shutdown of the party in the near future."
"The Prosecutor General's Office produced evidence of manifestations of extremism in all party materials, both printed and posted on the official website of the Tajik Islamic Renaissance Party, with the demand to ban them. This request will most likely be granted as well," he said.
During the Civil War (1992-1997) the Tajik Islamic Renaissance Party was a driving force of the United Tajik Opposition, which also included democratic and liberal forces. The former leader of the Islamic Tajik Renaissance Party Sayid Abdulloh Nuri, who died in August 2006, was one of the signing parties to the inter-Tajik peace treaty, which put an end to the civil war.
Current leader of the Tajik Islamic Renaissance Party Muhiddin Kabiri, who was a member of Majlisi Oli, Tajikistan's parliament until February 2015, fled to Europe immediately after the regular elections to the legislature on March 1 and said that he will not return to the homeland for fear of politically motivated criminal prosecution. Now, according to some information, he lives with his family in Turkey, waiting to receive the status of political refugee.
On September 17, 13 members of the Political Council of the Tajik Islamic Renaissance Party were detained. The authorities did not say what accusations had been brought against them.
On September 24, the country's state television broadcast several pieces of video footage of the preparation of several terrorist acts by the Tajik Islamic Renaissance Party. The TV reports claimed that the party was a booster behind the recent mutiny staged by Gen. Abduhalim Nazarzoda. The Tajik Prosecutor General's Office mentioned the end to the operation which had been held since September 4, a week before this. During the special operation, 25 supporters of the rebellious general were killed and more than 120 detained. Dozens of law enforcement officers perished and were wounded; the authorities did not announce their exact number.
The authorities blamed the Islamic Renaissance Party for masterminding and supporting the mutiny. The party rejects its involvement in the recent events, calling them "an internal conflict of law enforcement agencies."
Independent experts linked the actions taken by the authorities to the intention to shut down the only opposition party in Tajikistan, warning of the emergence of an underground radical wing of the Islamic Renaissance Party which the authorities are planning to withdraw from the legal field.
On August 29, a warning regarding the termination of illegal activity by the Islamic Renaissance Party signed by Tajik Justice Minister Rustam Shokhmurod was published by the Khovar state news agency. The agency gave the party ten days for its shutdown, as regional cells of the party ceased to act in most cities and regions of the country as required by the law on political parties.
The Tajik Islamic Renaissance Party is the only legally acting religious party in the post-Soviet space. Its members number more than 40,000 Tajik citizens.
