DUSHANBE, October 27, 2015, Asia-Plus – Ruhullo Tillozoda, the son of the Islamic Revival Party (IRP) leader Muhiddin Kabiri, is accused of aiding and abetting mutineers last month.
Kabiri’s first cousin Jamshed Narzulloyev, his brother-in-law (his wife’s brother) Mahamd Rahmatulloyev, and his driver Hikmatullo Sayfov were shown on Tajik state television yesterday evening.
They said that Ruhullo Tillozoda on September 1 asked them to tell top managers of the construction company “Binokor Service” that they should sell the company’s property as soon as possible. According to them, Tillozoda allegedly said that it was his father’s request.
On September 2, Tillozoda reportedly handed over 1.2 million U.S dollars to the serving deputy defense minister Abduhalim Nazarzoda (Hoji Halim) fro organization of the mutiny.
Narzulloyev and Rahmatulloyev said that they had not known that the money had been intended for the mutiny.
Narzulloyev, Rahmatulloyev and Sayfov were arrested on September 21.
Ruhullo Tillozoda himself is currently outside Tajikistan but his wife and his two children are in Dushanbe. According to some unofficial sources, the Tajik law enforcement authorities have taken their identification documents.
We will recall that 23 leading members and activists of the banned IRP have been arrested, many on suspicion of leading a deadly mutiny by a serving deputy defense minister in early September.
The Tajik Prosecutor-General”s Office said on October 6 that criminal probes are under way against the party officials who face charges including terrorism, inciting religious and racial hatred, and attempting to seize power by force. Many also face forgery, fraud, and other economic crime charges.
The arrested officials include deputy heads of the IRP, while party leader Muhiddin Kabiri remains in a self-imposed exile outside Tajikistan.
On September 29, the Supreme Court ruled that the IRP was an “extremist and terrorist organization” and banned it.
The decision came after the government blamed the party for organizing the September 4 attacks on a police station and an arsenal near Dushanbe that killed 26 people.
The attacks were carried out by an armed group led by Abduhalim Nazarzoda, a deputy defense minister who was later killed.
IRP officials have rejected connections to Nazarzoda or the insurrection and have called arrests of party officials to be politically motivated.
