DUSHANBE, February 24, 2012, Asia-Plus — A court in Dushanbe’s Ismoili Somoni district has rejected claim filed by the Turajonzoda brothers against Saidmukarram Abduqodirzoda, the head of the Council of Ulamo (a group of scholars and imams that provides interpretations of religious practice).
The court’s decision was announced on February 22. “According to reports of members of the Council of Ulamo, the majority of them attended the extraordinary meeting and signed the statement,” said the judge. “Those who could not attend the meeting received the statement copies by phone telegram.”
After pronouncement of the court’s decision, Hoji Akbar Turajonzoda noted that he did not intend to appeal to a court of higher instance.
Saidmukarram Abduqodirzoda noted the he would file a counterclaim against the Turajonzoda brothers for compensation for moral damages in the event if the Turajonzoda brothers intended to appeal the court’s decision.
The trial of the case pitting Hoji Akbar Turajonzoda, a prominent Tajik religious figure, and his brother Eshon Nouriddinjon against Saidmukarram Abduqodirzoda began in a court of Dushanbe’s Ismoili Somoni on January 26. The judge presiding over the trial offered the Turajonzoda brothers and Saidmukarram Abduqodirzoda to come to an agreement. After discussion of conditions for reconciliation the sides reportedly agreed to take necessary efforts to come to an agreement. They, however, failed to reach compromise
Plaintiffs – Hoji Akbar Turajonzoda and his brother Eshon Nouriddinjon Turajonzoda – accuse Abduqodirzoda of defamation and fabrication of a statement by members of the Council of Ulamo.
Hoji Akbar Turajonzoda told reporters on February 8 that he talked to “80 percent of members of the Council of Ulamo” and they said that they had been forced to sign the statement. “Signatures of members of the Council of Ulamo were collected after we filed the lawsuit. They collected the signatures with help from the State Committee for National Security (SCNS). “Members of the Council of Ulamo are ready to appear in court and openly say that they were forced to sign the statement,” Hoji Akbar Turajonzoda said.
For his part, Saidmukarram Abduqodirzoda said that all members of the Council of Ulamo were acquainted with the text of the statement. According to him, the Council of Ulamo has 25 members and 14 of them attended the meeting, while the remaining 11 members received the statement copy each.
Hoji Akbar Turajonzoda said they were ready to withdraw the lawsuit if all members of the Council of Ulamo confirmed that all of them signed the statement or if the head of the Council of Ulamo admitted his mistake and made the amende honorable to them.
We will recall that Hoji Akbar Turajonzoda filed a defamation lawsuit against Abduqodirzoda on December 20.
Hoji Akbar Turajonzoda, and his brothers, Nouriddinjon and Muhammadjon, came under pressure from the authorities in early December.
On December 6, 2011, the Council of Ulamo accused the Turajonzoda brothers of commemorating the Ashura ceremony, which is commemorated by Shi’a Muslims as a day of mourning for the martyrdom of Husayn ibn Ali, the grandson of Muhammad. The statement by the Council of Ulamo alleged that Nouriddinjon and Muhammadjon performed the Ashura ritual at the Muhammadiya Mosque on December 2.
Responding to the statement, Hoji Akbar Turajonzoda said that none of his brothers had commemorated the Ashura ceremony. He also noted that the statement attributed to the Council of Ulamo was invalid because several members of the council had called him and insisted that they had not signed the document. According to Turajonzoda, the statement was part of an effort aimed at “discrediting his family in the eyes of President Emomali Rahmon.”
The authorities have suspended the functioning of the Muhammadiya Mosque in the Vahdat district for three months. Turajonzoda, told Asia-Plus that the Committee on Religious Affairs (CRA) under the Government of Tajikistan stated on December 9 that the functioning of the mosque has been suspended for celebration of the Ashura ceremony.
The Muhammadiya Mosque in the village of Turkobod, some 30 kilometers east of Dushanbe, belongs to the Turajonzoda family. Muhammadjon Turajonzoda served as the mosque’s imam after the elder brother, Nouriddinjon, had been forced by the authorities to resign in January 2011.
