DUSHANBE, July 27, 2016, Asia-Plus — Activities of the Branch of the Imam Khomeini Relief Committee (IKRC), Imdad, in Tajikistan have been temporarily suspended because it violated Tajikistan’s legislation, Tajik Minister of Justice Rustam Shohmurod told reporters in Dushanbe today.
According to him, a court in Dushanbe’s Ismoili Somoni district is considering the case pitting the Ministry of Justice against IKRC’s Branch in Tajikistan.
The Ministry of Justice has decided to refrain from giving comments on the case until the completion of the trial.
The minister noted that the ministry’s comments on the case could be interpreted as a kind of pressure on the court.
We will recall that the Ministry of Justice filed a lawsuit against IKRC’s Branch in the court on the basis of Articles 34, 35 and 37 of Tajikistan’s law on public associations.
An official source at the Ministry of Justice of Tajikistan said several violations have been revealed in IKRC’s activities in Tajikistan. He said the Ministry of Justice had sent an official warning to the IKRC’s Branch in Tajikistan twice “but they have ignored it.”
Iranian Embassy in Dushanbe has refrained from giving comments on the situation; the Embassy representatives just noted that the Embassy had received a copy of the lawsuit filed by the Ministry of Justice in a court.
The Imam Khomeini Relief Committee has operated in Tajikistan since 1996 and it has reportedly established ten vocational training centers for women in the country over the past twenty years. Iran’s charity was also providing support to orphanages and centers for people with disabilities and elderly people ad organizing simultaneous weddings for pairs from vulnerable families. The Committee was also providing assistance to victims of natural disasters in Tajikistan.
The Imam Khomeini Relief Committee, Imdad, was founded in March 1979 as a charity organization to provide support for poor families. The aim is to help such families regain financial stability. IKRC has also provided support to regions outside of Iran, including Pakistan, Somalia, Afghanistan, Palestine, Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Republic of Kosovo, Chechnya, Comoros, Iraq, Tajikistan, Azerbaijan, Syria, Lebanon.
IKRC’s main branch office is located in Nishapour.
IKRC provides multiple ways of support to individuals or families.
This foundation is reportedly supported by Iranian government and also receives the Islamic taxes of Khums and Zakat, as well as Zakat al-fitr. Also, the foundation has charity boxes installed all across the country to gather donations.
