DUSHANBE, October 7, 2014, Asia-Plus — The Prosecutor-General’s Office of Tajikistan proposes to label the Group 24 opposition movement, which is led by Umarali Quvvatov, as an extremist group.
A statement, released by Tajik chief prosecutor’s office on October 7, in particular, notes that Umarali Quvvatov is suspected of being involved in fraud and misappropriation.
“The main objective of Group 24 is in seizing power in Tajikistan. Umarali Quvvatov and his supporters are spreading extremist statements and calling on the population to participate in a mass disorder,” the statement notes.
In this connection, the Prosecutor-General’s Office has filed a suit in the Supreme Court asking to ban Group 24 as an extremist group.
Meanwhile, Tajik Interior Minister Ramazon Rahimzoda has called the Group 24 opposition group that plans antigovernment demonstration in downtown Dushanbe “criminals.”
Speaking to the Russian news agency TASS on October 7, Rahimzoda said the leaders of the Group 24 movement “are criminals living abroad, who are wanted in Tajikistan for different crimes.”
Media reports in Tajikistan say exiled opposition leader Umarali Quvvatov”s organization is behind the online calls to gather in downtown Dushanbe on October 10 for a protest.
The reports link the protest calls with blockage of hundreds of websites including Facebook and YouTube in Tajikistan. The sites have been inaccessible across the country since October 5. Officials from the communications service agency, however, say they have nothing to do with the Internet blockage.
Umarali Quvvatov first made headlines in the summer of 2012 when he fled Tajikistan for Moscow. There he formed an organization called Group 24, which he claims is a new political movement opposed to incumbent President Rahmon.
Quvvatov was arrested in Dubai on December 23, 2012 at the request of Tajik authorities. He is accused of illegally obtaining about $1.2 million through fraudulent business activities. Quvvatov denounced the fraud case against him and accused Tajik President Emomali Rahmon of running a “totalitarian regime.” In an open letter smuggled out of the detention center, Umarali Quvvatov said the accusations leveled against him were “a direct consequence” of his battle against the “oppression of the Tajik people” by Rahmon”s government.
Quvvatov was released from the detention center in Dubai on September 26, 2013 and according to some sources he is currently in Turkey.
