DUSHANBE, January 27, 2015, Asia-Plus — The Interior Ministry’s office in Khatlon province has instituted criminal proceedings against the Social-Democratic Party (SDP) member Firdavs Sohibnazarov who has been nominated for election to parliament in the Jomi single-mandate constituency, SDP leader Rahmatillo Zoyirov told Asia-Plus Tuesday afternoon.
According to him, criminal proceedings have been instituted against Sohibnazarov under the provisions of four articles of Tajikistan’s Penal Code: Article 245 – embezzlement or misappropriation; Article 253 – causing property damage by deception; Article 340 – document forgery; and Article 262 – money laundering.
Rahmatillo Zoyirov says the case is politically motivated.
Founded in 2002, the Social-Democratic Party was registered on December 20, 2002. It was originally registered as the Party of Justice and Development on February 5, 1999. Tajikistan”s Ministry of Justice requested the same year that the Supreme Court ban the party”s activities and its registration was canceled. The party re-emerged and was registered under the name of the Social-Democratic Party in late 2002. Chairman of the Social-Democratic Party is Rahmatillo Zoyirov and the party reportedly has more than 8,000 members.
