DUSHANBE, July 2, 2012, Asia-Plus –
Jun 1-5 -President Emomali Rahmon was on working visit to China. During his stay in Beijing, Emomali Rahmon met with Chinese leaders to discuss bilateral relations and attended a summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO). The Tajik president”s office says China will provide Tajikistan with some $1 billion in loans and aid, the bulk of which will go toward construction of a cement factory. The presidential office said that some $600 million has been earmarked for building a cement factory capable of producing 3 million tons of cement annually. The cement factory is to be a joint project between the Chinese state-owned National Materials Group Corporation and Tajikistan”s TALCO aluminum company. The statement said part of the remaining money will be used to build a new power generation plant in Dushanbe.
June 6 – A statement released by the Interior Ministry of Tajikistan says that Ms. Malika Malki a European Commission attaché in Dushanbe, and fellow French citizen Jalal Kazu were involved in a physical incident with police. According to the statement, the 41-year-old Malki and the 42-year-old Kazu, “who were both heavily drunk, in an act of hooliganism disrupted public order and assaulted three employees of law-enforcement agencies.” The police officers — identified as Gulmurod Faizov, Daler Shododov, and Ramazon Qurbonov, all in their early 30s — sustained injuries of various degrees as a result of the incident, according to the statement. All three reportedly required medical treatment for their injuries. According to the ministry, neither Malki nor Kazu were carrying passports or other identification, in violation of the law;
– An operation carried out by police officers in the Shouroobod district led to the seizure of more than 90 kilograms of narcotics.
June 8 – According to the Ministry of Interior (MoI), two residents of Tajikistan and one Afghan national were arrested in the Hamadoni district, Khatlon province on suspicion of having been involved in drug trafficking. 46 packages of narcotic drug that tested positive to hashish weighing 42 kilograms were confiscated from them. More than 37.7 kilograms of heroin, 16.3 kilograms of raw opium, 10.7 kilograms of hashish as well as 3,752 MDMA pillars weighing 880 grams were seized in an operation carried out in the Sayrob village, Hamadoni district on the same day. A total weight of the confiscated narcotics was more 65.6 kilograms.
June 9-10 – A two-day seminar aimed at helping thirty representatives of Tajikistan’s diplomatic and consular personnel of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Tajikistan, Migration Service and Tajik Diaspora leaders abroad, strengthen their abilities to detect potential cases of human trafficking, identify victims, and refer them to the relevant governmental and civil society organizations for assistance was held in Dushanbe. The seminar was organized by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in partnership with the Inter-Ministerial Commission for Combating Trafficking in Persons of Tajikistan with funding provided by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).
June 9-14 – Five of six member countries of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization participated in a joint military exercises in northern Tajikistan. Some 2,000 troops from Russia, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan participated in the drills, which were dubbed Peace Mission-2012. The exercises focused on counterterrorism techniques. Uzbekistan, the sixth member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, has declined to send any troops to participate in the exercises in Tajikistan.
June 10 – An armed clash reportedly took place between police officers and a group of Afghan armed drug traffickers during a special operation launched in the Devolbars area, Shouroobod district tin Khatlon. The police officers fought off the armed smuggler who went into hiding on the neighboring territory [Afghanistan]. 100.6 kilograms of the cannabis group of drugs and a TOZ-16 rifle were found at the scene of the incident.
June 11 – French citizen Jalal Kazu left Dushanbe and the European Union office in Dushanbe said a French female diplomat was ordered by EU officials to leave Tajikistan after she and her husband were accused of assaulting Tajik police officers in a drunken confrontation.
June 12-13 – President Emomali Rahmon was on a working to the northern Sughd province;
– Access to Tajikistan’s leading independent news agency Asia-Plus was cut off.
According to Internet providers, the state communications agency ordered them to block the website “because of a technical problem.” Meanwhile, the Communications Service head Beg Zuhurov told Asia-Plus Tuesday afternoon that access to the Asia-Plus website was blocked after it published some readers’ comments that were seen by officials as being critical of authorities. According to Zuhurov, the comments contained “defamation and insult against the country’s high-ranking state officials.”
– EU – Tajikistan civil society seminar on the freedom from torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment was held in Dushanbe. Organized by the EU Delegation to Tajikistan in cooperation with Tajik NGO coalition against torture and with the participation of the Government of Tajikistan, the event served as an open forum to examine torture prevention related matters, exchange views and best practices and discuss ways forward.
June 13 – President Emomali Rahmon”s brother-in-law was shot dead in Dushanbe. According to officials, Kholmumin Safarov, 57, was found dead after being shot several times by unknown assailants. The shooting is reported to have occurred as he was returning to his home after evening prayers at a nearby mosque. A native of Tajikistan”s southern Vose district, Safarov, the husband of Rahmon”s eldest sister, had been serving as chief of the Tajik government”s forest and hunting agency;
– Tajikistan”s lower house (Majlisi Namoyandagon) of parliament approved new amendments to the country”s election laws, making it mandatory for lawmakers to be able to speak Tajik fluently. The new changes stipulate that without fluency in Tajik no one can stand as a candidate in local or national elections. It remains unclear whether nominees will be required to pass language tests to qualify for elections. Tajik media and the State Language Committee have repeatedly criticized what they call lawmakers and officials” inability to speak “pure” Tajik as well as their tendency to even deliver even official speeches in their local dialects instead. Since 2009, proficiency in Tajik has become mandatory for all state employees.
June 15 – Iran’s Vice-President for Parliament Affairs Lotfollah Forouzandeh Dehkordi arrived in Dushanbe for a short visit. During his stay in Dushanbe, Mr. Lotfollah Forouzandeh Dehkordi met with Tajik President Emomali Rahmon. He handed over to Tajik leader an invitation from Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to attend the 16th summit meeting of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) member countries that will take place in Tehran from August 30-31. Besides, President Emomali Rahmon and Lotfollah Forouzandeh Dehkordi also considered a number of issues related bilateral cooperation between Tajikistan and Iran in transportation and energy sectors;
– Police officers reportedly discovered a huge drug cache in the Shouroobod district, Khatlon province. The cache was discovered in the Devolbars area. One bayonet and 20 bags of narcotic drug that tested positive to cannabis weighing nearly 419 kilograms were extracted from the hide. The cache reportedly belonged to Afghan drug smugglers.
June 19-20 – A two-day regional workshop for chiefs and instructors of training institutions from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Latvia, organized by the EU-UNDP Border Management in Central Asia (BOMCA) program, took place in Dushanbe. Regional workshop of the Forum of Border guards training institutions from Central Asia met for the third time to exchange experience in innovations in professional education and training.
June 20 – Tajik President Emomali Rahmon delivered a statement at the general session of the UN Conference on Sustainable Development in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Emomali Rahmon held a number of bilateral meetings in Rio on the sidelines of the UN Conference on Sustainable Development.
June 21 – Residents of the Kyrgyz village of Karabak reportedly took 17 Tajik nationals, running shops at the Ravoti Kaboud bazaar, hostage. They took Tajik nationals hostage for the purpose of exchanging them for three Kyrgyz nationals, who were arrested with 193 kilograms of mercury in the territory of Tajikistan on June 20. After the explanatory conversations the hostages were released.
June 27 – Tajikistan marked the National Unity Day.
