Tajik opposition party activists ask for political asylum in Sweden
DUSHANBE. Aug 31 (Interfax) - Three activists from the opposition Democratic Party of Tajikistan (DPT) have asked for political asylum in Sweden, a DPT spokesman told Interfax on Friday on condition of anonymity.
One of the activists, Temur Toshev, known until recently as Temur Iskandarov, is a brother of former DPT Chairman Makhmadruzi Iskandarov, who is currently serving a 23-year prison term.
"Our activists Temur Toshev, our chairman's brother, Sino Asadullo, the head of the party's youth wing, and Jamoliddin Nazriyev, who are currently in Stockholm, have appealed to the Kingdom of Sweden for political asylum," he said.
Soon after Makhmadruzi Iskandarov's arrest in 2005, the DPT split into two wings, one of them led by Masud Sobirov and the other by Iskandarov. The authorities have recognized Sobirov's wing and did not recognize Iskandarov's and so Iskandarov's supporters are not officially regarded as members of any political party.
"A court in Sweden will start considering the request by the DPT activists next week," the party spokesman said.
Makhmadruzi Iskandarov, who was a prominent opposition warlord during the 1992-1997 civil war in Tajikistan, was appointed head of the Tajik state gas corporation under a 30% quota following the war's end but was accused of terrorism, banditry, embezzlement and other serious crimes and sentenced to 23 years in prison in 2005. His supporters consider him innocent and the charges brought against him politically motivated.
"The escape of the DPT activists from Tajikistan and their appeal for political asylum in a European country shows their dissatisfaction with the current political situation in the country and a threat to their life on the background of increasing pressure against the opposition," the party spokesman said.
No comments on this information have come from Tajik authorities so far.
