DUSHANBE, August 23, 2011, Asia-Plus — 112 women have been released from a women’s penal colony in Norak today following amnesty granted on the occasion of 20th anniversary of Tajikistan’s Independence. They include twelve women from Uzbekistan, Russia, Kazakhstan, Latvia and Lithuania.
Among those released today morning is also a member of Tajikistan’s preeminent pop dynasty Farzonai Khurshed.
We will recall that Farzonai Khurshed, a household name in Tajikistan along with her sister Shabnami Surayo, was sentenced to two years in prison in February 2010 for helping her fiancé, Farrukh Rouziyev, escape from a courthouse in January 2010. The police eventually arrested the pop star and her fiancé in the Varzob holiday resort outside the capital.
Farrukh Rouziyev, who was accused of forgery, was sentenced to 10 years in prison and two police officers were found guilty of neglecting their duties and given jail terms of two years and 18 months, respectively.
The 2011 amnesty benefits 15,000 people, including 250 female convicts and 107 minors. 4,000 prison inmates are expected to be released, while others may have their prison terms cut. This is the 13th amnesty the government has approved.
