DUSHANBE, December 21, 2009, Asia-Plus — On Monday December 21, Tajik Prosecutor-General Bobojon Bobokhonov and his Russian counterpart, Yuri Chaika, signed a new cooperation agreement in Moscow.
According to Russia’s news agency RIA Novosti, this agreement replaces the agreement on legal assistance and support that was signed between the prosecutor-general’s offices of the two countries in 1995.
Speaking at the meeting, the Russian chief prosecutor noted that cooperation between the prosecutor-general’s offices of Russia and Tajikistan was developing “constructively and progressively.” “We now have fruitful cooperation both in bilateral and multilateral formats,” Chaika said, expressing hope that the new agreement would give a new impulse for further expansion of cooperation between prosecutor’s offices of the two countries.
The new agreement provides for cooperation between the sides in providing legality, protecting human rights and freedoms, combating organized crime, terrorism, corruption, trafficking in weapons and narcotics, economic crime, etc. The document also stipulates interaction between the prosecutor-general’s offices of the two countries on issues related to extradition of suspected and accused persons, legal support on criminal cases, training of personnel as well as organization of scientific-and-research activity being of mutual interest, exchange of legal acts, methodic materials and academic books as well as work experience exchange.
We will recall that Tajik and Russian officials signed an agreement in Dushanbe on November 4 to fight drug-related crime. The agreement was inked by head of Tajikistan”s Drug Control Agency (DCA), Rustam Nazarov, and Russian Ambassador to Tajikistan Yuri Popov. The agreement creates a new framework for joint efforts to fight drug trafficking and to rehabilitate drug addicts and opens new ways for various Russian and Tajik ministries to crack down on drug-related businesses.
