A noted Tajik rights defender, who was sentenced to nine years in prison in October 2021 on fraud charges that he has rejected, has got additional six years in prison.
Radio Liberty’s Tajik Service, known locally as Radio Ozodi, says a court in Dushanbe’s Ismoili Somoni district sentenced Izzat Amon to six years in prison on June 6.
The sentence followed his conviction on charges of fraud. The court reportedly found him guilty of stealing 17,000 U.S. dollars from two plaintiffs through a fraud scheme.
Amon's relatives have said the case is fabricated.
Amon’s son, Mahmadyusuf Kholov, told Radio Ozodi that he was ready to pay the plaintiffs in the presence of the judge and the prosecutor.
“But they read the verdict and left the courtroom without questions,” Kholov told Radio Ozodi.
One of the plaintiffs said that Izzat Amon’s relatives had asked them to come to court to get their money.
“The judge did not ask our opinion and announced the verdict,” he added.
Amon had led the Center for Tajiks in Moscow for many years before his Russian citizenship was taken away and he was forced to return to Dushanbe in March 2021 at the request of Tajik authorities, who accused him of financial fraud.
Amon's supporters and relatives dismissed the charges as politically motivated before he was convicted and sentenced in October last year.
Amon's nonprofit organization in Moscow reportedly helped Tajik migrant workers find jobs, obtain work and residency permits, and get legal advice.
