During the dispersal of the participants of the rally in Khorog, held on Monday (May 16), the security forces used rubber bullets and tear gas. 30-year-old Zamir Nazarshoev died, several people were seriously injured.
The day before, dozens of people, dissatisfied with the fact that the authorities ignored their demands, gathered in the microdistrict of Barkhorog (Upper Khorog) and went towards the regional administration. On the way, security forces were waiting for them; they began to disperse the protesters with the help of special equipment.
“During the dispersal of the rally participants, a young resident of Khorog died, several more people (according to various information from 6 to 10) were injured. The situation in the city remains tense, shooting was heard at night,” one of the demonstrators said on May 17. The authorities immediately turned off the Internet in the city, but didn’t comment on the situation.
On Saturday, May 14, several hundred residents of Khorog (the administrative center of the Gorno-Badakhshan region) and surrounding areas gathered for an unsanctioned rally in the microdistrict of Barkhorog, where one of the influential informal Pamir leaders Mamadbokir Mamadbokirov lives.
The protesters demanded from the authorities the resignation of the regional chairman Alisher Mirzonabot and the mayor of Khorog Rizo Nazarzoda, bringing to justice those responsible for the death of a resident of Roshtkal Gulbiddin Ziyobekov, an end to the persecution of residents of the region, as well as the release of convicted activists Amriddin Alovatshoev, Chorshanbe Chorshanbiev, who were sent to jail for displaying civil position after the November events.
In general, the protesters put forward more than 10 demands to the authorities, but the mayor of Khorog, Rizo Nazarzoda, said that he didn’t even want to hear about these demands, because the rally is considered illegal, the participants didn’t receive permission to hold it. “We must act within the law, and the participants in the unauthorized rally will be held accountable,” he emphasized.
Since 2014, the law has been in force in Tajikistan that restricts the holding of rallies. Participants of a proposed peaceful rally must obtain appropriate permission from local authorities 15 days before the rally, demonstration or street procession.
On May 15, on the regional TV “Badakhshan”, the regional prosecutor Parviz Orifzoda stated that Mamadbokir Mamadbokirov was involved in organizing an unauthorized rally and warned that the next time he would consider organizing an illegal rally as a terrorist act.
Meanwhile, the participants of the Saturday rally broke up after Sharif Nazarzoda (head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs for the region) came out to them, but they said that they would continue to gather until the authorities heard them.
