DUSHANBE, November 4, Asia-Plus – Tajik security officers broke up an unauthorized rally staged by the Democratic Party (DPT) in Dushanbe on Saturday, two days before Tajikistan’s presidential election. At least three activists of the rally – Rajab Mirzo, the head of the DPT organization for Dushanbe, Khairiddin Gulyaev, the deputy head of the DPT organization for Dushanbe, and Timur Iskandarov, the brother of Mahmadruzi Iskandarov — were arrested. A court in Dushanbe later jailed them for 15 days for staging an illegal rally.
Several members of the DPT headed by the imprisoned Mahmadruzi Iskandarov, gathered near the Ministry of Justice on Saturday, November 4, at around 10:30 a.m.
The picket was organized by the DPT organization for Dushanbe. The demonstrators demanded that the Ministry of Justice should cancel its decision to recognize Masoud Sobirov as an official leader of the DPT.
Picketers carried placards “Law Is Above All” and “Tajikistan Is the Rule-of-Law State, in Which Law Should Be Above All.” A small group of people, including members from the Social-Democratic Party and the Mirhusein Narziyev-run wing of the Socialist Party, were standing nearby to support picketers.
The meeting lasted a couple of minutes and the demonstrators then disbursed, noting that the DPT will make a statement after the presidential election.
One of the picket participants, who introduced himself as Shuhrat Qudratov, the head of youth organization of the Social-Democratic Party (SDPT), told Asia-Plus that the picket was short because several plainclothes security officers surrounded the picketers, seized their placards and evicted the demonstrators from the sidewalk.
One of those plainclothes security agents even tried to take away a mobile phone from one of journalists working with foreign media but failed. No other incidents were to be observed.
