DUSHANBE, August 30, 2012, Asia-Plus — In a statement released on August 29, the Prosecutor-General’s Office accuses the Islamic Revival Party (IRP) of committing crimes against the constitutional order of the country.
Tajik chief prosecutor’s office, in particular, accuses Sherik Karamkhudoyev, the head of IRP’s office in Khorog, the capital of the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region (GBAO), of the involvement in armed clashes against the government security forces.
The statement says that Sherik Karamkhudoyev is allegedly member of the armed group of Imomnazar Imomnazarov, who was killed by unknown assailants in Khorog on August 21, and was involved in armed clashes against the government troops in Khorog.
Sherik Karamkhudoyev met with Sultonnazar Imomnazarov, the brother of Imomnazar Imomnazarov, on evening of August 23 and they knocked together an armed group numbering 21 persons, according to the statement. This group was allegedly involved in armed clashes against the government force in Khorog on the night of August 23-24.
On the activities of the IRP in Khorog, the Prosecutor-General’s Office claims that no one member of IRP’s organization in Khorog has paid membership fees; moreover, members of IRP’s organization in Khorog have allegedly received 600 somoni per month each.
We will recall that Sherik Karamkhudoyev was reported missing on July 24, when the government troops launched a military operation in Khorog and only on August 8 it became known that Karamkhudoyev is being held in the detention facility of the State Committee for National Security (SCNS) in Dushanbe. On July 23, the head o IRP’s organization for Gorno Badakhshan Sabzali Mamadrizoyev was killed in Khorog.
As of January 1, 2012, IRP’s organization in Gorno Badakhshan reportedly had 3,000 members.
The August 29 statement also notes that numerous instances of violation by IRP of documentation were recorded. Thus, IRP announced that 600 residents of the northern Isfara district joined the party in 2010-2011, while papers of only 80 persons were drawn.
The statement also said that some members of the Islamic Revival Party of Tajikistan were also involved in activities of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) and Hizb ut-Tahrir and together with members of the banned extremist organizations had committed a number of crimes against the constitutional order of the country.
Meanwhile, the IRP activists have assessed all these accusations as a pressure on the party ahead of the presidential elections in the country.
“All this is a pressure on the Islamic Revival Party ahead of the Tajikistan presidential election in November 2013,” IRP deputy leader Mahmadali Hayit told Asia-Plus in an interview. “Besides, accusing some members of our party of participation in illegal armed and extremist formations, the Prosecutor-General’s Office wants to depreciate the role of the Islamic Revival Party in society,” he stressed.
We will recall that according to some media sources, Polyarnaya Zvezda on March 1 published an article entitled “Tajikistan on the Eve of Revolution.” The article covered a meeting in which President Emomali Rahmon allegedly ordered security services to increase surveillance of local religious groups and members of the Islamic Revival Party of Tajikistan.
Over the first quarter of this year, prosecutors have inspected activities of the Islamic Revival Party.
Founded in October 1990, the Islamic Revival Party of Tajikistan was registered on December 4, 1991. It was banned by the Supreme Court in June 1993 and legalized in August 1999. Its official newspaper is
Najot
(Salvation). According to some sources, IRP now has some 25,000-30,000 members. It won two seats in the 2010 parliamentary elections. The Islamic Revival Party of Tajikistan is the only Islamic party registered in CIS Central Asia.
