DUSHANBE, January 8, 2009, Asia-Plus — In a press release issued on January 7, the Tajik Embassy in Moscow denied information posted on website of the Moscow-based Tajik public association, Tajik Labor Migrants, about detention of 50 Tajik nationals in Astrakhan that are now allegedly held as hostages by an organized criminal group as “false and aimed at discrediting the embassy.”
According to press release, 16 Tajik nationals have been removed from the train Moscow-Dushanbe in Astrakhan over the past two weeks on suspicion of having forged note on crossing the Russian border in their passports. “Four of them were released two days ago, while documents of others have been sent for making an appropriate examination,” press release said.
Press release noted that the Tajik Embassy in Moscow kept up with the situation and was in contact with Tajik nationals whose passports had been seized. Besides, by ambassador’s instruction two officers of the Ministry migration service representative office in Russia were sent to Astrakhan on January 5 to probe into the situation.
We will recall that information posted on Tajik Labor Migrants’ website (
www.tajmigrant.com
) on January 4 noted that more than 50 Tajik nationals were removed from the train Moscow-Dushanbe in Astrakhan from December 29 to December 31 2008. According to the website, they were charged with violation of customs control requirements and were transferred to officers from the Astrakhan transportation police that took their passports and transferred them to representatives of the criminal grouping who took them to the settlement of Svobodny. To leave the settlement they have to pay 25,000 Russian rubles (RR) in ransom each, the website said. Information posted on this website Monday evening noted that two of 50 “hostages” paid RR25,000 each and were given their documents back. “However, four other Tajik nationals were brought to the settlement today,” the website said on January 5.
