DUSHANBE, October 2, 2015, Asia-Plus – An Istanbul court will resume trail of murders of Group 24 leader today,
Radio Liberty’s Tajik Service
reported on October 2.
We will recall that Turkish media outlets report that Turkish prosecutor has asked for life sentence for killer of Tajik opposition leader Umarali Quvvatov, who was killed in Istanbul on March 5 this year.
Turkish news website
Aksam
reported in early August that a prosecutor in the trial of Sulaymon Qayumov has asked a court to sentence Qayumov to live in prison.
The prosecutor has reportedly asked to sentence five other accomplices in this crime to jail terms between 1½ and 4½ years.
We will recall that Umarali Quvvatov, who once had close ties with President Emomali Rahmon’s relatives but became an opponent, 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 stayed in Russia and the United Arab Emirates before moving to Turkey. On December 19, 2014, Umarali Quvvatov was arrested in Istanbul for visa violations, but he was released on February 3, 2015. Umarali Quvvatov was shot dead by unidentified assailant in Istanbul, Turkey on March 5.
According to Turkish media reports, conspirators planned his murder for three months. At first they wanted to poison Quvvatov at the joint dinner on the night of 5 to 6 March 2015 in Istanbul. Then the killers used weapons and Quvvatov was shot dead with a single bullet to his head when he got outside trying to reach the nearest hospital.
Tajikistan”s Supreme Court banned Group 24 on October 9, 2014 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 an extremist organization, and therefore is banned in Tajikistan. Its website and printed materials were also banned.
In March 2015, three persons were jailed in Tajikistan for alleged association with the Group, receiving sentences ranging from 16½ to 17½ years. In April 2015, another two persons were sent into prison for 3½ and 3 years for alleged organization of the Group”s activities inside Tajikistan.
Quvvatov was not widely known before the failed protests, but that he became much more known afterwards.
