Journalist and civic activist Ulfathonim Mamadshoeva has been charged with public calls to overthrow the government and is being held in a pre-trial detention center. This was reported by sources in the law enforcement agencies.
On May 19, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Tajikistan issued a message accusing Ulfathonim Mamadshoeva, her ex-husband, an officer of the border troops of the State Committee for National Security Kholbash 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 an organized criminal group in Rushan district, consisting of 200 people, were provided with weapons and ammunition under the direction 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 machineguns, 18 pistols of various brands, 4 rifles (TOZ-18 – Tula’s Arms Plant), 11 F-1 hand grenades, 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.
Ulfathonim Mamadshoeva was detained on May 18. She is charged with Article 307 (“Public calls for a violent change in the constitutional order of the Republic of Tajikistan”) of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Tajikistan. If her guilt is proven, she faces a prison term of 8 to 15 years. Her relatives reported that on the evening of May 18 they hired a lawyer for Ulfathonim, but he refused to communicate with the press, as he signed a non-disclosure agreement for the materials of the investigation.
The power structures are not available for comments.
On May 17, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Tajikistan accused the activist of ‘organizing an illegal rally’. On the same day, in an interview with journalists from Radio Ozodi (the Tajik service of Radio Liberty) and the TV channel Present Time, Ulfathonim Mamadshoeva called all the accusations against her unfounded. According to her, she was in Dushanbe all last week and physically couldn’t participate in the organization of the rally in Khorog. After the interview, the journalists were attacked by unidentified people who took away all their video equipment and mobile phones. One of them called Radio Ozodi’s journalist Mulloradjab Yusufi by name and threatened to shoot him.
Social media activists came out in favor of Ulfathonim Mamadshoeva and called on the authorities to release her. “I know that you never had bad thoughts. If your case wasn’t classified as secret, everyone would be convinced of this,” writes journalist Ramziya Mirzobekova. “I know Ulfathonim as an activist who promotes non-violence and the resolution of any conflicts by negotiations and peaceful means,” says human rights activist Dilrabo Samadova.
