KHUJAND, June 1, 2009, Asia-Plus — Eleven alleged members of the outlawed religious extremist Hizb ut-Tahrir organization were reportedly detained in the northern city of Khujand last Saturday.
Press service of the Sughd regional prosecutor’s office reports that operation by officers from the regional prosecutor’s office and the Sughd department for combating organized crime led to the arrest of eleven alleged members of the Hizb ut-Tahrir party in Khujand on May 30. They are residents of the cities of Khujand and Chkalovsk and Bobojonghafurov district.
The preliminary investigation has established that the detainees had been active in the province since 2005, having propagated the Hizb ut-Tahrir ideas, the source said.
Criminal proceedings have been instituted against the detainees under the provisions of Article 189 (incitement of national racial, regional and religious enmity) and Article 307³ (organization of activity of the extremist organization) of Tajikistan’s Penal Code and an investigation is under way.
We will recall that the Supreme Court on March 11, 2008 formally labeled the banned Hizb ut-Tahrir group as an “extremist organization.” The ruling followed a request submitted to the court by the prosecutor-general’s office. 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-Tahrir reportedly seeks to establish a global caliphate, or Islamic society, although it purports to reject violence in pursuit of its goals.
