DUSHANBE, June 24, 2011, Asia-Plus — It cannot be ruled out that certain political forces are behind disorders caused by soccer fans in Kulob and Dushanbe, Sutlton Hamadov, Tajik expert on security issues, told Asia-Plus today.
According to him, certain forces whether inside the country or outside it want to destabilize the situation in Tajikistan. “Not only law enforcement authorities but also the government ought to think about this. I hope the law enforcement authorities will ascertain the situation quickly and will draw a proper conclusion,” Hamadov said.
A number of various celebrations will be held to mark the 20th anniversary of Tajikistan’s Independence (September 9), and therefore, the law enforcement authorities ought to tighten security measures in order to avoid such incidents, the expert added.
The Kontinent (Continent) Center head Zafar Abdulloyev considers that preparedness of the law enforcement agencies for preventing mass disorders or riots may be assessed only when such situation emerges “because there have been no such incidents since the civil war (1992-1997).”
“Maintaining public order is the task of not only the government, it is the task of society itself as well, and therefore, it is necessary to set up civil institutions of self-defense and assistance to police in case of mass disorders, and this must be an element of civil defense” said Abdulloyev, “I think the Ministry of Interior ought to think seriously about that.”
According to him, it is also necessary to intensify analytic and agential work on preventing youth and fans radicalism, it is necessary to reveal informal leaders, work with them, as well as coordinate work on providing public order during matches with the Tajik Football Federation and football clubs themselves: they must share responsibility for disorders and riots caused by their fans.
Radio Liberty’s Tajik Service reported on June 23 that Tajik military analyst Abdullo Habibov says it is possible that some political forces want to use the energy of soccer fans for their own benefit against Rahmon”s regime. But another Tajik analyst, Sayfullo Safarov, said young fans are simply showing their happiness in the rowdy celebration. He added it is unfortunately true of soccer fans all around the world.
We will recall that 40 fans of the Ravshan soccer club were detained in Dushanbe Wednesday afternoon for rioting after their team”s victory in the country”s top soccer league.
The violence involving fans from Ravshan, based in the city of Kulob, was the second such incident in the past 10 days. On June 14, Ravshan supporters in Kulob were involved in an unruly behavior when their team lost to first place Istiqlol Dushanbe.
The disciplinary committee of the Tajik Football Federation fined the Ravshan club for Kulob riot some 3,000 somoni ($550) and disqualified the team from playing its next five home games, instead playing in a stadium some 100 kilometers outside of Kulob.
