The Supreme Court of Tajikistan sentenced Kholbash Kholbashev, a former officer of the border troops of Tajikistan, who was named by the authorities as one of the organizers of the May rallies in the Gorno-Badakhshan Oblast (GBAO), to the most severe punishment – life imprisonment.
This was reported by the relatives of the convict; neither the authorities nor the court provided official information about the court verdict. They reported that the mobile court was held behind closed doors in the detention center of the State Committee for National Security, and the verdict was announced on September 21.
According to Kholbashev’s relatives, about 70 residents of Rushan and Khorog were in the dock with him, all of them were also found guilty of organizing and participating in the riots in GBAO and sentenced to various terms of imprisonment. They also reported that Kholbashev pleaded not guilty to all the charges and stated that he confessed under torture.
Meanwhile, the trial of Kholbashev’s ex-wife, civic activist and journalist Ulfathonim Mamadshoeva, who was also named by the authorities as one of the organizers of the May rallies in the Pamirs, has resumed. The state prosecutor demanded 25 years in prison for her, but the defendant pointed to the bias of the investigation, in connection with which her case was returned for additional investigation. The trial of Mamadshoeva resumed on September 20 and the journalist is expected to be sentenced in the coming days. Her relatives said that the trial was also held behind closed doors and without their participation, and her defense in court is carried out by a state lawyer.
Ulfathonim Mamadshoeva and Kholbash Kholbashev were detained in May of this year immediately after the suppression of rallies in Khorog and Rushan. They were charged with the article “Public calls for the overthrow of the government”, later in their case there were other accusations of committing a number of serious crimes. On May 19, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Tajikistan issued a message accusing Mamadshoeva and Kholbashev, as well as Alim Sherzamonov, deputy chairman of the National Alliance of Tajikistan, who is wanted, of organizing riots in GBAO.
The report of the Ministry of Internal Affairs states that ‘on May 17-18, members of the organized criminal group of Rushan district, consisting of 200 people, were provided with weapons and ammunition under the leadership and funding of Sherzamonov and his accomplices Kholbash Kholbashev and Ulfathonim Mamadshoeva’.
According to the law enforcement agency, ‘8 militants were killed, 11 were wounded, 114 members of the terrorist group were detained, 8 people are wanted. They seized 24 Kalashnikovs, 5 machine guns, 18 pistols of various brands, 4 rifles (TOZ-18 model), 11 hand grenades (F-1), 86 Molotov Cocktail bottles, 3 kg of TNT, 15 walkie-talkies and 53 telephones.
Meanwhile, residents of Rushan report 21 dead, whose bodies were given to them for burial on May 19.
