KHUJAND, June 5, 2009, Asia-Plus — Detention of two other alleged members of the outlawed religious extremist Hizb ut-Tahrir organization in Sughd last Thursday brought the overall number of Hizb ut-Tahrir suspects, detained in the province over the past ten days, to 16.
According to the Sughd police directorate press service, Rustam Qurbonov and Akramkhoja Usmonov were arrested in Khujand on June 4 in two separate operations by local police on suspicion of being members of the Hizb ut-Tahrir party.
“The 30-year-old Rustam Qurbonov joined Hizb ut-Tahrir in 2005 and when searching his house, police found 8 subversive books, five leaflets, and CD calling for jihad,” the source said.
Criminal proceedings against Qurbonov have been instituted under the provisions of two article of Tajikistan’s Penal Code – Article 187, Part 2 (organization of criminal group and participation in criminal group) and Article 307, Part 2 ((calling in public for forcible overthrow of or change to the constitutional order in Tajikistan).
The 27-year-old Akramkhoja Usmonov, who worked as watchman with local Khujand limited liability company, Shohrohi Abreshim (Silk Road), reportedly joined the Hizb ut-Tahrir party in 2004. When searching his Mercedes, police officers found the book entitled “Nizomi Islom” (Islamic Order). Criminal proceedings against his have been instituted under the same article of Tajikistan’s Penal Code and an investigation is under way, the source said.
We will recall that in mid-May, seven other locals in Sughd were found guilty of associating with the Hizb ut-Tahrir group and sentenced to lengthy prison terms.
Tajikistan’s 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.
