In Tajikistan, the “elimination” of the ranks of civil society from its most active representatives continues. On June 29, a Dushanbe city court sentenced two civil society activists in GBAR (Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region) to 18 years in prison.
We are talking about Khujamri Pirnazarov and Shaftolu Bekdavlatov, who were members of the “Commission 44”, created to investigate the November events, when Gulbiddin Ziyobekov, a resident of the Roshtkala district, was killed during an operation by security forces. After that, the residents gathered near the building of the regional administration, and the peaceful protest turned into a violent confrontation – 2 more people were killed, 17 were injured.
The protesters dispersed only after civil society activists negotiated and forced the authorities to promise to investigate the death of the Roshtkala resident and not prosecute the protesters. From among these activists, a group was created, popularly called “Commission 44”. Khujamri Pirnazarov was responsible in this group for interaction with the media and coverage of the actions of the investigation group, which included 6 representatives of the “Commission 44”.
After the security forces conducted an anti-terrorist operation in GBAO in May, more than ten members of the “Commission 44” were detained in Khorog at the end of May and taken to Dushanbe. On the screens of all state TV channels, there was information that these civil society activists received money from abroad from opposition representatives living in Europe to organize mass riots.
No details of the accusation are known, since the authorities immediately classified all the initiated criminal cases, and from lawyers who were admitted to the detainees only after 10-15 days, they took a non-disclosure agreement and an undertaking not to leave the country.
The verdict against Khujamri Pirnazarov and Shaftol Bekdavlatov was also announced behind closed doors. It is only known that they were accused of organizing an unsanctioned rally, and that the state prosecutor demanded a sentence of 20 years in prison for both.
