Tajikistan: Prosecutor General opened a case against his subordinate. Peculation or revenge?

Law enforcement authorities of Tajikistan have detained Colonel Zokir Nazarzoda, who headed the Department for consideration of appeals and reception of citizens of the country’s Prosecutor General’s Office. There is no official report on this, but sources say that he has been charged with misappropriation and embezzlement of public funds.

According to a source familiar with the matter, Nazarzoda fell out of graces with Attorney General Yusuf Rahmon after he insulted him at a private event.

Nazarzoda’s relatives also talk about revenge, but they are silent about who could have initiated the detention. “He is not guilty. He was fired in retrospect and a case was filed against him,” one of them said on condition of anonymity. It’s currently not possible to verify this information.

If this is indeed the case, then it seems that there will always be an article for the undesirable. As experts say, the authorities always have compromising information on any official, and in the case when a particular civil servant becomes objectionable or goes against the authorities, they take out a black folder in which materials have been collected for years. If the official is crystal clear, which is unlikely in the conditions of widespread corruption in Tajikistan, then the necessary article will always be found if it’s needed.

According to the legislation of the country, the Prosecutor General of Tajikistan is appointed for a period of five years with the consent of the members of the upper house of the Parliament of Tajikistan.

Yusuf Rahmon was appointed Prosecutor General of Tajikistan in January 2015, and in 2020, at the initiative of the President, his tenure was extended for another 5 years.

During the years of Yusuf Rahmon’s tenure as Prosecutor General, access to information has been limited in the country, freedom of speech and expression has been suppressed, and there has been strong pressure on the opposition and dissidents.