A court in the Bobojonghafourov district of Sughd province has begun consideration of criminal proceedings instituted against three local residents, aged 33 to 36, charged with membership in the outlawed religious extremist group Hizb ut-Tahrir.
Criminal proceedings have been instituted against them under the provisions of Article 307’ (2) of Tajikistan’s Penal Code – organization of activity of an extremist group or participation in an extremist group.
“Investigation has established that they voluntarily joined the Hizb ut-Tahrir group in 2013. The defendants were detained by officers of the State Committee for National Security (SCNS)’s office for Sughd,” a source at the Bobojonghafourov district court told Asia-Plus in an interview.
According to data from the Sughd regional court, 30 criminal proceedings of persons charged with membership in extremist organizations were considered in the province last year and 48 residents of Sughd were convicted.
Hizb ut-Tahrir is a Sunni political organization that seeks to unite all Muslim countries into an Islamic caliphate.
The Supreme Court of Tajikistan formally labeled the banned Hizb ut-Tahrir Islamist group as an extremist organization on March 11, 2008. The ruling followed a request submitted to the court by Tajik chief prosecutor. Although the group has been outlawed in Tajikistan since April 2001, the ruling means even tighter restrictions on the group’s presence on the Internet and its use of media to promote its ideology.
