The case of journalist and civil activist Ulfathonim Mamadshoeva, who is accused in Tajikistan of publicly calling for the overthrow of the government, has been classified. The lawyer, hired by the journalist’s family, signed a non-disclosure agreement on the progress of the investigation, and therefore refrains from communicating with the press. The power structures are also not available for comments.
On May 19, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Tajikistan issued a report 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 the organized criminal group of Rushan district, consisting of 200 people, were provided with weapons and ammunition under the leadership and funding by 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.
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.
