Tajik blogger Daler Imomali has gone on trial in Dushanbe on charges human rights organizations call unfounded.
Citing sources close to prosecutor’s office, Radio Liberty’s Tajik Service, known locally as Radio Ozodi, reports a court in Dushanbe’s Shohmansour district started the trial behind closed doors on October 7.
Daler Imomali is charged with illegal entrepreneurship, premeditated false denunciation, and cooperating with the banned opposition movement Group 24, which was officially designated in Tajikistan as a terrorist organization in 2014.
Recall, the Group 24 founder, Umarali Quvvatov, was killed in Istanbul, Turkiye in March 2015.
Daler Imomali reportedly pleaded guilty to the illegal entrepreneurship charge, but rejected the other two. If convicted, Imomali faces more than 10 years in prison.
Known for his articles critical of the government, Daler Imomali was detained along with other noted blogger Abdullo Ghurbati on June 15 and sent to pretrial detention three days later.
Daler Imomali’s case moved to a court on September 25.
The Dushanbe Shohmansour city court sentenced Abdullo Ghurbati to 7 1/2 years in prison on October 4.
The sentence followed his conviction on charges of publicly insulting an authority, minor assault of an authority, and participating in the activities of an extremist group.
Ghurbati pleaded not guilty to all three charges.
International media watchdogs have released statement urging Tajik authorities to release independent journalists who have been critical of the government.
Ranked 152nd out of 180 countries in Reporters without Borders (RSF)'s 2022 World Press Freedom Index, Tajikistan has fallen 36 places in the index since 2015.
