DUSHANBE, December 17, 2008, Asia-Plus –The body of the 20-year-old Salohiddin Azizov, who was brutally killed in the Moscow region, was returned to Tajikistan from Russia by flight # 628 Moscow-Dushanbe today morning.
Speaking in an interview with Asia-Plus, Salohiddin’s brother Vazir Azizov said, “The Moscow law enforcement authorities assured us that a thorough investigation will be carried out.” “We were six brothers and five of them, including me, were working in Russia.”
Salohiddin will be buried in Shahritus district, Khatlon province.
We will recall that a group of some 10 persons attacked two Tajik men near the village of Zhabkino in the Moscow region on December 5, at around 11:30 p.m. Reports say the attackers fired shots, wounding one man who escaped, while the 20-year-old Salohiddin Azizov was beheaded. Azizov’s head was found in a plastic bag in a rubbish bin in Moscow on December 6. A group calling itself Combat Organization of Russian Nationalists claimed responsibility for the beheading.
On December 11, the Tajik MFA delivered a protest note to Vyacheslav Svetlichny, the Charge D’Affaires at the Russian Embassy in Dushanbe, over the beheading of a Tajik national in the Moscow region.
The note said that according to reports released by various media, more than 600 Tajiks have died in Russia this year and 84 of them were killed in hate crimes. However, Russian law enforcement authorities show the inertness in responding to becoming more frequent race-hate crimes being committed against Tajik nationals, according to the note.
Tajikistan demanded that Russia find and punish those who executed Salohiddin Azizov.
An official statement released by the Russian Embassy on December 12, in particular, said, “Hate crimes committed in Russia provoke public outrage not only in Tajikistan but also in the Russian Federation.” “As far as the recent killing of Tajik national is concerned, we are strongly indignant at this horrible deed. The Russian Embassy strongly condemns this cynical crime and assesses it as provocation aimed at stirring up ethnic conflict and damaging friendly Russian-Tajik relations,” Vyacheslav Svetlichny stated.
Russian diplomat stressed that solving hate crimes is one of priorities of the Russian law enforcement agencies. “The last crime is under special control of the law enforcement authorities,” said Svetlichny. “The fact that special unified commission, comprising representatives of the investigation committee, criminal investigation department, federal security service and the recently established department for combating extremism, has been set up to investigate the crime is evidence of this…” On behalf of the Russian public, Svetlichny expressed sorrow at the tragedy and expressed condolences to relatives and friends of Salohiddin Azizov. He also expressed hope that Tajik public will show self-control over challenge cast by criminals.
In the meantime, the body of another Tajik national — 32-year-old resident of Gorno Badakhshan Rasoul Vataniyev – was returned to Dushanbe from Moscow today morning by the same plane. According to his relatives, he was also killed by skinheads.
