On May 15, at least three prominent political figures in Tajikistan, convicted of attempting a coup d'état, were transferred from the Dushanbe-based pretrial detention facility (SIZO) to penal colony No 3/1 in Vahdat Township.
The list includes:
- Saidjaffar Usmonzoda, former member of Tajikistan’s lower chamber (Majlisi Namoyandagon) of Tajikistan and former Chairman of the Democratic Party of Tajikistan;
- Akbarsho Iskandarov, former Chairman of the Supreme Council of Tajikistan (parliament speaker);
- Shokirjon Hakimov, lawyer and First Deputy Chairman of the Social-Democratic Party of Tajikistan.
A relative of one of the convicted individuals confirmed the transfer. However, the authorities have not issued any official statements regarding the move.
Earlier, on April 22, Rukhshona Hakimova, a young journalist and mother of two, was the first among those convicted in the "coup attempt" case to be transferred to a women’s penal colony in Nurek.
Later, on May 8, Radio Liberty’s Tajik Service, known locally as Radio Ozodi, reported that former Foreign Minister Hamrokhon Zarifi and two other individuals were also transferred from the Dushanbe-based SIZO to an undisclosed penal colony. The identity of the two others and the exact facility remain unknown.
The fate of the remaining individuals convicted in the coup-related case is still unclear.
The Supreme Court of Tajikistan issued verdicts in a high-profile case concerning an alleged attempt at a “state coup” on February 5, 2025. They were charged with state treason and seeking to seize political power in the country by force. The sentencing took place in the Dushanbe-based pretrial detention center, where the entire trial was held behind closed doors.
The court sentenced Saidjafar Usmonzoda and Hamrokhon Zarifi to 27 years in prison each; Shokirjon Hakimov to 18 years in prison; and Ahmadshoh Komilzoda, former Deputy Chairman of the Democratic Party and journalist, to 18 years in prison.
Akbarshoh Iskandarov was sentenced to 18 years in prison.
Two retired colonels from the State Committee for National Security (SCNS), Nouramin Ghanizoda and Jamshed Boyev, were sentenced to 18 years in prison each.
Foreign Ministry department head, Abdulfayz Atoi, was sentenced to 17 years in prison.
Furthermore, the court ordered the confiscation of assets belonging to Hamrokhon Zarifi and Saidjafar Usmonzoda.
Additionally, the court sentenced Tajik journalist Rukhshona Hakimova, the niece of Shokirjon Hakimov, to 8 years in prison. The charge of treason against Hakimova stems from a public survey she conducted on China's influence on Tajikistan as part of her work as a reporter last year.
The eight public figures were tried in secret in Dushanbe. The closed-door trial of them began on November 14.
The events began with a statement by the then Prosecutor-General Yusuf Rahmon, who asked parliament on June 14 last year to revoke the legislative immunity of lawmaker Saidjafar Usmonzoda, who had been arrested two days earlier. Yusuf Rahmon announced at a parliamentary session that Usmonzoda was being charged under Article 306, Part 2, Clause "v" of the Criminal Code (Seizure of power through violence).
Tajikistan's top prosecutor claimed that Usmonzoda had been in contact with the banned National Alliance of Tajikistan to discuss a plan to “seize political power by force.”
Within days, Hamrohkhon Zarifi. Akbarshoh Iskandarov, Ahmadshoh Komilzoda, and Shokirjon Hakimov were detained in Dushanbe.
Authorities also detained three other lesser-known officials — Abdulfaiz Atoi, Nouramin Ghanizoda and Jamshed Boyev.
Rahmon has claimed the plot involved seeking US$10 million from a “foreign government” while the banned Muslim extremist group Jamoati Ansorulloh was enlisted to provide some 3,000 militants for the takeover, an accusation that puzzled many because the defendants are known to be staunchly secular.
In August, prosecutors told reporters in Dushanbe that all of the cases being probed were “closely related.”
Since then, there has been no word from the authorities, court officials, or defense lawyers about the cases. All available information comes from various sources and has not been officially confirmed by authorities.
