DUSHANBE, August 24, 2011, Asia-Plus — According to the penitentiary system of the Ministry of Justice of Tajikistan, Yoqub Salimov has his prison term cut by two years under a prisoner amnesty.
Under the partial amnesty granted to him, Salimov will serve four years and ten months in prison. According to his relatives, his health has become worse lately. Salimov has some heart problems and his sight has become worse.
Yoqub Salimov was one of the most powerful figures in Tajik politics after civil war broke out in the spring of 1992. He was one of the top field commanders in the Popular Front, a paramilitary group that supported the government during the five-year conflict. Yoqub Salimov was once Tajikistan’s interior minister, ambassador to Turkey, and chairman of the state customs committee.
We will recall that in 1990 Yoqub Salimov was convicted for taking part in Dushanbe riots. When Tajik Civil War broke out, Salimov was released from prison, and became one of leaders of Popular Front. In 1997 he was charged with attempting a coup d”etat. Afterwards he fled from Tajikistan, but was arrested in Moscow in 2003. Salimov had been detained since July 2003 at Moscow”s Lefortovo prison. On February 24, 2004, he was extradited to Tajikistan and put on a plane for Dushanbe. After a five-month trial, the Supreme Court of Tajikistan found Salimov guilty of treason, banditry, and abuse of office and sentenced him to 15 years in prison on April 25, 2005.
Besides, ex-leader of the Tajikistan Democratic Party, Mahmadruzi Iskandarov, also has his prison term cut by two years.
The Supreme Court sentenced Mahmadruzi Iskandarov to 23 years in prison on 5 October, 2005. The sentence followed his conviction on charges of terrorism, the embezzlement of state funds, and the illegal storage of weapons. The court also imposed a 1.5 million-somoni fine and stripped Iskandarov of all previous state honors and awards, including revoking his rank of major general.
According to the penitentiary system of the Ministry of Justice, 86 minors were freed under the prisoner amnesty on August 24 and four others have their prison terms cut.
On August 23, 112 inmates were freed from women’s prison in Norak in line with the amnesty. Twelve of the women freed are citizens of Uzbekistan, Russia, Latvia, or Lithuania.
