DUSHANBE, February 21, Asia-Plus – The Democratic Party’s (DPT) jailed leader Mahmadruzi Iskandarov was transferred from the justice ministry-run pretrial detention facility to Dushanbe high-security penal # 7 last week, Asia-Plus has learned from Izzatullo Sharipov, the head of the penal system department of the Ministry of Justice (MoJ).
Rahmatullo Valiyev, senior representative from Iskandarov-run wing of the DPT, said in an interview with Asia-Plus said that the decision on transferring Iskandarov to a penal colony had most likely resulted from repeated appeals of Democrats about illegal keeping of Mahmadruzi Iskandarov in a MoJ prison cell.
We will recall that senior representatives from the DPT led by Mahmadruzi Iskandarov have repeatedly noted that despite a court ruling saying that Iskandarov should serve his sentence in the penal colony, he is still in the MoJ pretrial detention facility.
Valiyev also noted that they today appealed to a court in the Ismoili Somoni district of Dushanbe against decision of an August 27 disputed party to elect Masoud Sobirov as a new leader of the DPT. “We have submitted all necessary documents proving illegality of this decision to the court,” Valiyev said.
Iskandarov”s friends and relatives say Iskandarov, who was living in self-exile near Moscow, was abducted last year and forcibly brought back to Dushanbe to be tried. Tajikistan”s Supreme Court last October sentenced Iskandarov to 23 years in prison. The sentence followed his conviction on charges of terrorism, the embezzlement of state funds, and illegal storage of weapons. Iskandarov denies all these charges. Representatives from the DPT consider that Iskandarov’s case was politically motivated.
