Tajikistan: Opposition blogger’s mother was sentenced to 6 years in prison
The prosecutor demanded 7 years in prison for the mother of the Tajik blogger, Shokhida Mamadjonova, at the very first court session, which took place on April 7.
The state prosecutor said that the guilt of Mamadjonova in collaboration with the banned in the country Group 24 and the Islamic Renaissance Party was established. According to him, Shokhida Mamadjonova twice commented on her son’s YouTube video, and her comments contained an appeal against the constitutional order of Tajikistan and insulting the head of state.
Mamadjonova stated that she pleads guilty and regrets what she has done. The defendant’s lawyer asked the court, in view of the sincere repentance of his client, to assign her a punishment not related to deprivation of liberty.
Shokhida Mamadjonova is the mother of blogger Sherzod Mamadjonov, who has repeatedly criticized the actions of the authorities for restricting the wearing of the hijab. Earlier, Sherzod, known in social networks as Abdurahmon 09, stated that his mother was repeatedly called to the police, demanding that Sherzod return to his homeland. Sherzod Mamadjonov lives in Germany, and according to him, he was approached by persons close to the authorities who informed him about the conditions for his mother’s release from custody. “They say that my mother will be released on the condition that, firstly, I will return to Tajikistan, and, secondly, I will repent of my deed.” According to him, two months after the arrest of his mother, none of his relatives was given permission to visit her, although in the very first report about the detention of Mamadjonova, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Tajikistan stated that all conditions had been created for the meetings of the detainee with her relatives.
Shokhida Mamadjonova was summoned on February 3 to the police department in the city of Vakhdat and never returned home. Only five days later, on February 8, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Tajikistan disseminated information that Shokhida Mamadjonova was taken under preliminary detention.
The mother of the detainee told journalists that the police had confiscated her daughter’s phone three months before the arrest. “What could they do with it? Who did they call from this phone and who got likes? It’s on their conscience. I refuted all the accusations,” said Idimo Mamadjonova.
The detention of Shokhida Mamadjonova caused a strong reaction in the Tajik segment of social networks. Many users believe that the authorities want to punish the woman for her son’s actions. The Ministry of Internal Affairs believes that Sherzod Mamadjonov is not a blogger or oppositionist, “He is wanted for crimes of an extremist and terrorist nature.”
Immediately after the arrest of Shokhida Mamadjonova, the authorities of Tajikistan were again criticized for bringing relatives of oppositionists to the departments of state security and the police, where they were forced under pressure, torture and threats to write down appeals against their relatives abroad. According to human rights activists, over the past few years, this method has become the main means of pressure on oppositionists abroad. Dushanbe rejects criticism of putting pressure on their opponents.
