DUSHANBE, May 15, Asia-Plus – A district court in Dushanbe’s Shohmansour district has rejected suit filed by Mahmadruzi Iskandarov-run wing of the Democratic Party (DPT) requesting to nullify a decision of the DPT extraordinary congress of August 27 2006 to elect Masoud Sobirov new leader of the party.
The court in Dushanbe’s Shohmansour on May 14 held the third and last meeting to consider suit filed by the Mahmadruzi Iskandarov-run wing of the DPT. The deputy head of the Iskandarov-led DPT Rahmatullo Valiyev and the head of the Iskandarov-led DPT organization for Dushanbe Rajab Maraimov (Rajab Mirzo) attended the hearing as petitioners.
For its part, the Masoud Sobirov-run wing of the DPT launched a counterclaim for 30,000 somonis in damages after a suit filed against them allegedly defamed them.
Former first deputy head of the Sobirov-led wing of the DPT, Saidjaffar Ismonov, who was summoned to the court as witness, said that although he considered that the congress had been legal and the congress decisions had been recognized by the Ministry of Justice it had been mistake to elect Masoud Sobirov as leader of the party
“As leader of the party, Masoud Sobirov has done nothing for its development,” said Ismonov, “How the party can function if it does not have office, official paper, and no steps have been taken to provide its normal functioning.”
During the hearing, Rahmatullo Valiyev was repeatedly making protest against pressure on witnesses. After the court refused to familiarize itself with video about the congress. Valiyev and his supporters left the courtroom.
Valiyev said in an interview with Asia-Plus that “since the very beginning (the hearing began in April), the trial has been one-sided.” “We have a number of documents proving our rightness, including the video, but the court did not studied them because representatives of the Ministry of Justice and Masoud Sobirov refused to accept them as proof.”
According to Valiyev, they now intend to appeal to the court of higher instance.
We will recall that the DPT elected a new leader at a disputed party congress in Dushanbe on August 2006. Masoud Sobirov said 60 out of the 68 DPT delegates who attended the August 27 party congress elected him as their new chairman. But those party members who remain loyal to jailed DPT leader Mahmadruzi Iskandarov say the election and congress were illegitimate.
The Ministry of Justice recognized Masoud Sobirov as the official leader of the Democratic Party. The Justice Ministry also denied a request by Saidjaffar Ismonov to be recognized as the leader of the Democratic Party. Ismonov filed the request on the basis of a January 14 party congress that charged Masoud Sobirov with inaction and removed him. But the ministry said that the January 14 congress was held in violation of the party”s charter and Tajik law, and that it will continue to recognize Sobirov as the party”s legitimate leader.
