KHUJAND, April 7, Asia-Plus — Another two alleged activists of the outlawed religious Hizb ut-Tahrir organizations from the Sughd province have got long jail terms.
The Sughd regional court on April 4 ruled that two residents of Khujand – Amirkhon Gahfourov and Shuhrat Isroilov – be given 8½ years in prison each. The sentence followed their conviction on charges of inciting national, racial, regional and religious enmity as well as calls for the violent overthrow of the government.
Speaking in an interview with Asia-Plus, Justice Amirkhon Ishoqov said that the investigation had established that Gahfourov and Isroilov have members of the Hizb ut-Tahrir since 2002.
We will recall that the Supreme Court on March 11 formally labeled the banned Hizb ut-Tahrir Islamist group as an “extremist organization.” The ruling followed a request submitted to the court by Tajik chief prosecutor. Although the group has been outlawed in Tajikistan since 2000, the ruling means even tighter restrictions on Hizb ut-Tahrir’s presence on the Internet and its use of media to promote its ideology.
