DUSHANBE, December 3, 2012, Asia-Plus — The Russian authorities have extradited to Tajikistan Gholibjon Sobirov, who is suspected of having been involved in drug trafficking in Tajikistan.
According to an official website of the Prosecutor-General’s Office of the Russian Federation, Sobirov was extradited to Tajikistan last month. He was reportedly wanted by the Tajik law enforcement authorities since May this year. Sobirov and his accomplice were reportedly attempting to transport 475 grams of heroin to Russia. His accomplice was arrested but Sobirov managed to escape. He was arrested in the Mytishchinskiy district, Moscow oblast in July this year.
Sobirov is the second Tajik national that has officially been extradited by Russia to the Tajik authorities over the past two months. Davlatsho Kuchakshoyev, who is suspected of having been involved in hostage taking in Tajikistan, was extradited in October this year. Internationally wanted Kuchakshoyev was reportedly arrested in the Podolsk district, Moscow oblast in November 2011.
We will recall that Tajik national Abdulvosit Latipov disappeared without a trace in October, just days after being released from a jail in the Russian city of Volgograd. His family believes he was abducted by Tajik security forces and transferred home to face possible torture as a suspected terrorist.
Human rights groups in Russia say as many as 10 citizens of Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and other Central Asian countries are believed to have been surreptitiously kidnapped and returned home in the past year. In each of the cases, the nationals had applied for asylum in Russia, fearing extradition to their home countries, where they were likely to face an unfair trial and even abuse.
