Tajikistan: Two more relatives of the late ex-IRPT leader were detained

The internal affairs authorities of Tajikistan have detained two more relatives of the late Said Abdullo Nuri, the founder of the Islamic Renaissance Party (IRPT) now banned in Tajikistan and the former leader of the United Tajik Opposition.

Sayvali Rizoev, the husband of Abdullo Nuri’s sister, was detained by officers of the Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs for Khatlon region on March 23, and Ismatullo Balkhiev, the son-in-law of the late IRPT leader, and his bodyguard were detained at the airport in Dushanbe when they were being checked in for the flight to the Russian Federation.

The Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs for Khatlon region accuses them of receiving money transfers from their relatives from abroad, imputing to the detainees Article 307 note 3 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Tajikistan “Organization of the activities of political parties, public or religious associations or other organizations in respect of which the court has made a final decision to liquidate or ban their activities in connection with the implementation of extremist activities”.

Sayvali Rizoev lived and worked on his dekhkan [family] farm and, according to his relatives, never engaged in political or opposition activities. His children, who are in Europe, periodically sent him money. Now the authorities are trying to ascribe to him one of the forms of organizing the financial activities of the IRPT, in respect of which the Supreme Court of Tajikistan made a decision to ban back in October 2015.

Ismatullo Balkhiev was detained together with Abdullo Nuri’s nephew Nusratullo Saidov, but he was released after interrogation. However, when he tried to fly to Russia for labor migration, he was detained at the airport on the same charges as Sayvali Rizoev, Nusratullo Saidov and many others – ‘receiving money from abroad from members of a political party banned in Tajikistan’.

The authorities of Tajikistan have so far not given any comments on such facts. However, Nuri’s relatives claim that over the past two months, at least 14 people from among relatives and close associates have already been detained on similar charges.

On January 24, Nusratullo Saidov, the son of Nuri Ato Saidov’s older brother, was the first to be detained. He headed a dekhkan farm in Tajikabad jamoat [village council] (former state farm “Turkmenistan”) of Vakhsh region, and regularly received money from relatives living in Europe.

A month later, Mukhibullo Nuriddinov, the son of Khabibullo Nuriddinov, Nuri’s younger brother, was detained. And at the end of February, a message came about the detention of 64-year-old Nurullo Saidov, Nuri’s younger brother.

“There has always been a cane system [an informal name for the system of statistical evaluation of the activities of law enforcement units] in the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and no reform has been able to change such an attitude of the leaders of this department towards assessing the activities of their subordinates. One of the operatives found out about the transfer of money to Saidov, spoke with his head; they, in turn, ‘worn out’ this topic in the Prosecutor’s Office, and then everything goes on as if on a conveyor. So the operatives are happy, as well as their heads and others,” one of the employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs commented on an anonymous basis concerning the situation with numerous detentions of relatives of the former opposition leader. “At the same time, the issue of further ‘denigrating’ the IRPT is being resolved, and the administration of the Ministry of Internal Affairs thus shows its importance to the top leadership of the country – this is how we work, we have uncovered an extremist network.”

Nuri’s relatives say that hundreds of thousands of families receive money from their relatives who are in Russia and other countries to work, and this is not a crime. According to them, their families need help due to unemployment and confiscation of property. However, the Prosecutor’s Office considers such transfers to be one of the forms of organizing the activities of the IRPT, in respect of which the Supreme Court of Tajikistan made a decision to ban in October 2015.

Said Abdullo Nuri is a Tajik politician, leader of the Islamic Renaissance Party of Tajikistan. During the civil war in Tajikistan, he headed the United Tajik Opposition. In 1997, as the leader of the opposition, he signed a peac/wpident Emomali Rakhmonov, which ended the civil war. After the signing of the peace agreement in 1997, he headed the National Reconciliation Commission until 1999. Nuri died in Dushanbe in 2006 at the age of 59. In 2007 he was posthumously awarded the Order of Zarintoch.