DUSHANBE, January 25, 2013, Asia-Plus — A meeting of the country’s Security Council, presided over by President Emomali Rahmon, took place in Dushanbe o January 24.
The meeting reportedly reviewed the results of work carried out in 2012 and set tasks for this year.
According to Tajik president’s official website, the meeting participants included speakers of both chambers of the parliament, prime minister, senior representatives from president’s executive office, heads of power-wielding structures and law enforcement agencies, senior representatives of economic bloc ministries and other officials.
The meeting participants noted that the crime rate had fallen in the country. In 2012, 16,600 crimes were reported in Tajikistan, 270 crimes fewer than in 2011. Compared to 2011 there was 23 percent reduction in the number of serious crimes and 37 percent reduction in the number of crimes using weapons.
According to findings by the anticorruption agency, corruption cost Tajikistan 166 million somoni in 2012. Officers from the power-wielding structures and law enforcement agencies were reportedly also involved in corruption-related crimes.
In 2012, officers from the power-wielding structures and law enforcement agencies reportedly seized more than 5,000 kilograms of narcotics.
The meeting participants expressed concern that many people in the country still have illegal weapons.
Issues related to combating terrorism, religious and political extremism were also among major topics of the meeting.
Over the past five years, Tajik law enforcement authorities have reportedly instituted 128 criminal proceedings against 625 active members and supporters of terrorist and extremist organizations. To-date, they have considered more than 120 criminal proceedings instituted against 600 members of extremist religious groups such as Hizb ut-Tahrir, the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) and Jamaati Tabligh.
Noting that some of those extremists are graduates and students from illegal religious schools in some countries, President Rahmon once again called for Tajik students to be returned home from such dangerous educational institutions.
We will recall that since 2010, the president has repeatedly called for local youth to be returned to the country from foreign religious schools, amid concerns they are being radicalized in Islamic places of learning abroad. Tajik officials later clarified that only students who were studying abroad illegally were to be returned. Officials said that only those students who were studying religion abroad based on agreement with the Ministry of education were engaged in legal study.
