Mobile devices and other gadgets were illegally confiscated from several civil activists in Tajikistan.
“There was a knock on my door, I opened it. They showed me their IDs and politely asked me to show all phones, laptops, and tablets. Allegedly, as part of an investigation into the May events in Badakhshan. They said they would check some information and return it. And although I know that such a seizure is illegal, I did not argue. Because I know it’s useless,” says one of the activists, who did not want to provide her name.
According to available information, the same illegal seizures were made from two more natives of the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region, as well as from several journalists. Some of them were called in for interrogations, but no charges were brought forward, only asked to be in touch.
“The Constitution of the country guarantees the secrecy of correspondence, telephone conversations, telegraph, and other personal communications, except as provided by law. Already on the basis of this article of the Constitution, the seizure of a mobile phone is permissible only by a court decision. And there is only one law in such cases – the Code of Criminal Procedure,” says experienced lawyer Azam Burkhonov. – “Article 14 of the Code of Criminal Procedure expressly establishes that restrictions on the protection of personal data, the secrecy of savings and deposits, correspondence, telephone conversations, postal, telegraphic, and other communications during the criminal process are allowed only in cases and in the manner directly established by law. The seizure of phones and other gadgets can be carried out by an interrogating officer, investigator, or prosecutor on a reasoned decision and sanction of a court or judge. Witnesses must be present and a specialist must participate. Here one can clearly see an open disregard for the norms of criminal procedure legislation, and this, unfortunately, is becoming a dangerous trend in Tajikistan.”
Phones and video equipment were confiscated from correspondents of Radio Ozodi Barot Yusufi, Anushervon Aripov, and Nasim Isamov; the phone and laptop of Asia-Plus correspondent Ramzia Mirzobekova were confiscated. After the illegal seizure of the phone of independent blogger Daler Imomali, he was accused of participating in banned organizations due to Facebook Messenger messages allegedly found on his phone. The same story with Khushruz Dzhumaev, known as Khush Gulyam, who was charged under Art. 307 of the Criminal Code of Tajikistan because of some correspondence found on his mobile phone.
The security forces, using the regime of the anti-terrorist operation, seize mobile devices without trial and investigation from all persons objectionable to them, and then examine these mobile devices without the participation of specialists, violating all written and unwritten norms. At the same time, they can go for forgery, as was the case with the mother of the well-known opposition blogger Sherzod Mamadjonov, Shokhida Mamadjonova. In January, employees of the local police department asked to give them her phone number, and then a month later they were charged under Article 307 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Tajikistan, which has now become in Tajikistan an analog of the notorious Article 58 of the Criminal Code of the RSFSR, according to which all political prisoners in the USSR were trumped up the cases. Mamajonova’s phone allegedly contained comments on YouTube under the video of her son and the video of the opposition channel Islokh+. Idimo Mamadjonova, the mother of Shokhida Mamadjonova, then told reporters that she categorically disagrees with the accusation brought against her daughter: “For three months, my daughter’s mobile phone was with the police officers of Vahdat and they, of course, could talk to anyone on this phone and wherever they wanted put likes. I denied all allegations.”
