DUSHANBE, December 22, 2014, Asia-Plus — Tajik law enforcement authorities say Umarali Quvvatov has been detained in Istanbul for violation of rules of stay in Turkey.
“The leader of the so-called Group 24, Umarali Quvvatov, was detained in Istanbul on December 19 for violation of rules of stay in Turkey,” an official source at one of Tajik power-wielding structures told Asia-Plus Monday afternoon.
According to him, Quvvatov was detained for failing to register within 30 days on his arrival in Turkey.
Tajik nationals may stay in Turkey without visa during 30 days.
We will recall that Ms. Nadezhda Atayeva, the leader of the Association for Human Rights in Central Asia (AHRCA), said on December 20 that Umarali Qavvatov, the leader of the Tajik opposition organization Group 24, was arrested in Istanbul on December 19.
Tajik national Umarali Quvvatov is reportedly waiting for the UNHRC decision on granting refugee status to him.
Tajik Prosecutor-General Office accuses Mr. Quvvatov of embezzling 6 million somoni (equivalent to more than 1.26 million U.S. dollars) while Quvvatov says the accusations leveled against him are politically motivated.
The Association for Human Rights in Central Asia calls on the Turkish authorities to fulfill their international commitments to human rights, provide Umarali Quvvatov and his associates Husein Ashourov, Suhrob Tourayev and Abdurahsid Homidov with defense lawyers, and allow their meeting with representatives of the UN refugee agency.
AHRCA has also sent information about the detention of Umarali Quvvatov and his associates to the Turkish MFA, UNHCR Office in Turkey, the UNHCR Headquarters in Geneva, Amnesty International (AI) and other international human rights watchdogs.
Tajikistan”s Supreme Court banned Group 24 on October 9 following growing government pressure on the opposition group after it used the Internet to call for street protests in the capital, Dushanbe, on October 10.
Supreme Court judge Salomat Hakimova ruled that Group 24 is “extremist” and therefore is banned in Tajikistan. Its website and printed materials were also banned.
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.
On December 23, 2012, Quvvatov was arrested in Dubai at the request of Tajik authorities. He has been 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.
