DUSHANBE, August 6, 2011, Asia-Plus — Exactly seven years ago, on August 6, 2004, former director of the Drug Control Agency (DCA) and ex-commander of Presidential Guard, Ghaffor Mirzoyev, was arrested.
Ghaffor Mirzoyev became the commander of the Presidential Guard during the last few years of Tajikistan”s 1992-97 civil war. He remained in that position until January 2004, when he was named the head of the Tajik counternarcotics agency.
But in August 2004, the ambitious official faced arrest on a number of charges, including weapons possession, illegal property privatization, abuse of power, tax evasion, and murder.
On August 11, 2006, Ghaffor Mirzoyev was sentenced to life in jail for planning a coup. The trial was behind closed doors. Ghaffor Mirzoyev reportedly did not plead guilty to any of the charges, which included sedition and murder.
Fifteen military officers have already received sentences, ranging from five to 16 years, for their role in the alleged coup plot in January 2004.
Ghaffor Mrizoyev’s brother has also been sentenced to 30 years in prison after a closed trial. At the request of Tajik authorities, Abdurasoul Mirzoyev was extradited to Tajikistan in January 2010 from the United Arab Emirates, where he had lived since before Ghaffor Mirzoyev”s arrest in 2004. In July 2010, the Supreme Court sentenced hi to 30 years in prison. The Supreme Court declined to disclose details of the trial, saying that some testimony would compromise state secrets.
The government also confiscated nearly all of the businesses and property belonging to Ghaffor and Abdurasoul Mirzoyev.
