DUSHANBE, October 8, 2014, Asia-Plus – An activist of the Social-Democratic Party of Tajikistan (SDP) Ravshan Mutalibov, who is also deputy leader of the Ethnic Uzbek Community in Khatlon Province, got a jail term of ten years on the drug trafficking charge.
Ravshan Mutalibov was detained in Krasnodar [Russia] after arriving from Dushanbe and drugs were found in his luggage. He was arrested at the Krasnodar airport on April 30, 2013 after an inspection of passengers on the Dushanbe-Krasnodar flight found 365.79 grams of heroin in his luggage.
A court in Krasnodar sentenced Mutalibov to ten years in prison. Under ruling handed down by the Krasnodar city court, he will serve his term in a high-security penal colony.
Mutalibov’s relatives and SDP leader Rahmatillo Zoyirov consider that the case is politically motivated and the drugs were planted on him.
“The drugs were planted on Ravshan Mutalibov, as indicated by many facts,” Rahmatillo Zoyirov said.
In particular, according to him, it seems suspicious that on the day of departure Mutalibov was summoned to the police department in Qurghon Teppa, the administrative center of Khatlon province and the deputy head had questioned him about where, when, how and with what flight he will fly to Russia. Other than that, nothing else was asked of him.
“On arrival at the Krasnodar Airport, Ravshan Mutalibov’s name was called out by a police officer, which is surprising. Where would the latter have known his name if he had not registered and there are no other design? Ravshan Mutalibov got his luggage and passed through the green channel, and the customs officer, checking the luggage, asked him what was in the bag. Then Ravshan Mutalibov discovers that his new bag had a broken lock, and out of the bag customs officer pulls out two bundles, tapered with brown adhesive tape, with a powder similar to heroin.
His fingerprints were not found on the package. However, he was detained, and then a criminal investigation into the trafficking of heroin was undertaken,” Zoyirov noted, stressing that the incident has a political motive.
