DUSHANBE, September 26, 2008, Asia-Plus — Two residents of Sughd’s Bobojonghafruov district – a 33-year-old Abdurauf Pochoyev and a 25-year-old Abdujalil Pochoyev – have been arrested on suspicion of being members of the outlawed religious extremist Hizb ut-Tahir organization.
According to the Ministry of Interior (MoI), they were detained this week, following information received in the course of investigation into a criminal case of a 33-year-old resident of Khujand Murod Rustamov, who is also charged with being member of the Hizb ut-Tahrir party.
Subversive literature and Hizb ut-Tahrir leaflets were found in detainees’ house, the MoI source said.
According to the Tajik law enforcement authorities, some 10 activists of the Hizb ut-Tahrir organization were arrested in Tajikistan last year.
The usual charges against Hizb ut-Tahrir members are inciting religious hatred, seeking to overthrow the constitutional order, and membership in a criminal organization.
We will recall that in March 2008, the Tajik Supreme Court 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 April 2001, the ruling means even tighter restrictions on the group”s presence on the Internet and its use of media to promote its ideology. Hizb ut-Tahir reportedly seeks to establish a global caliphate, or Islamic society.
