Officials, appointed by the President himself, are arrested one by one for bribery. This practice in Tajikistan is quite rare, therefore, experts associate what is happening with internal conflicts of a corrupt nature.
Upon receiving a bribe, the head of the court of Aininsky district, Sharif Tursunzoda, was detained. According to the press service of the Anti-Corruption Department, for exemption from liability of criminals, the judge demanded $1500 from them. Having received part of the money, the judge demanded to immediately bring the remaining amount, and was detained upon receipt of it. A criminal case has been instituted against him under article 319 (Receiving a bribe), he faces up to five years in prison.
Earlier, the press service of the head of state said that Sharif Tursunzoda had been dismissed by the presidential decree from the post of chairman of Aininsky District court in connection with an act that discredited the honor and dignity of judge. Sharif Tursunzoda was appointed to this position by the President four months ago.
Recall, on June 8, another presidential appointee, the mayor of Kulyab, Bahrom Inoyatzoda, was arrested. The State Committee for National Security accuses him of committing a corruption crime. Earlier, on May 27, on the suspicion of fraud, the driver of Inoyatzoda, Khurramov Khursandali, and on June 3, the head of the reception office of the head of the city, Kurbanov Firuz Davlathodzhaevich, were arrested.
Inoyatzoda’s arrest is associated with his harsh speech against Beg Sabur (the head of the Communications Service and father of the son-in-law of the President of Tajikistan). Recall that in February of this year, the former mayor at a meeting with reporters said that the company “Komil-2010”, which belongs to Beg Sabur’s son, owed about $400 000 to the Tax authorities, and was not going to repay them. Inoyatzoda promised to stop the supply of water and electricity to the construction projects of this company. As a result, Inoyatzoda was arrested, and the company of the father of the son-in-law of the President didn’t pay off tax debts.
In an interview with ACCA, a political scientist from Tajikistan said that the situation with ongoing arrests of large officials is not a fight against corruption, but the squaring of personal accounts.
“In Tajikistan, it is not a secret that all important posts have a price, and the President’s family is selling these seats,” the political scientist said. “Having bought the position, the official is still obliged to pay regularly, otherwise he will not sit in his/her place for a long time. And the mayor of Kulyab, in addition, encroached on the sacred – the pocket of the President’s family, and such a thing is not forgiven in the country.”
According to the political scientist, Emomali Rahmon is well aware of the whole corruption of the system, because he himself controls it.
“By allowing officials to steal and go unpunished, the President ensures their loyalty, however, if someone doesn’t play according to the established rules, they will be immediately arrested, since there is a lot of evidence of their criminal activity,” the expert emphasized. “The Prosecutor’s office and the State Committee for National Security are carefully monitoring this, which will begin to act as soon as they are instructed to solve the problem.
Leave feedback about this