DUSHANBE, March 1, 2013, Asia-Plus:
February 1 – The National Bank of Tajikistan (NBT) introduced the coins in two denominations 1 diram and 2 diram into circulation;
– The United States Embassy in Dushanbe, Export Control and Related Border Security program (EXBS) and Office of Military Cooperation (OMC) provided twenty-two All – Terrain Vehicles (ATV’s), thirty-three light trucks and additional tactical equipment to the Government of Tajikistan to assist Tajik Border Guard units in their efforts to combat contraband from entering and transiting the country.
February 2 – The United States Embassy in Dushanbe handed over equipment to the Drug Control Agency (DCA) under the President of Tajikistan. The equipment is intended for strengthening of the DCA’s capacities to combat drug trafficking;
– Mahmadsharif Nasriddinov was found dead in his cell in a prison, Radio Liberty’s Tajik Service reports. Relatives of Mahmadsharif Nasriddinov told RFE/RL that unnamed sources in the prison said he was severely beaten by prison guards. Prison officials say Nasriddinov had psychological problems, but his relatives say he had no such issues and looked great when they saw him recently. Several inmates in Tajikistan”s prisons have been found dead recently, with relatives questioning the circumstances. In October 2012, Amnesty International urged Tajik President Emomali Rahmon to take measures against widespread torture and other ill-treatment in Tajikistan”s detention facilities.
February 3 – Four persons were killed as two cars collided in Khatlon province. According to the Interior Ministry’s official website, the accident took place near the village of Chimbuloq in the Khuroson district;
– Tajik border guards thwarted an attempt to cross the Afghan-Tajik border by suspected drug traffickers. One Afghan national was killed during a shootout. One carbine, several portable radio transmitters and more than 20 kilograms of cannabis were found at the scene of the skirmish.
February 4 – Some 800 vendors running shops at the Somon marketplace, which is located near the Khujand-Ghafurov highway, held a march to demand the authorities cut the patent cost. On January 1, a monthly cost of the patent was raised from 258 to 363 somoni.
February 5 – Former Tajik Prime Minister Abdumalik Abdullojonov has been detained at Borispol Airport southeast of Kiev on an international arrest warrant. Abdullojonov, 64, is accused by Tajik authorities of involvement in a 1996 assassination attempt on Tajik President Emomali Rahmon. He is also accused of backing a 1998 militant attack in Sughd province and of organized crime and terrorism-related offenses, as well as a number of economic crimes. Abdullojonov rejects the charges as politically motivated;
– Tajik border guards thwarted an attempt to cross the Afghan-Tajik border by suspected drug traffickers. One Afghan and three Tajiks were detained in the incident;
– The Ministry of Justice officially recognized Saidjaffar Ismonov as the legitimate leader of the Democratic Party of Tajikistan (DPT);
– Tajikistan eight millionth resident was born in Dushanbe. A baby girl that was born at Dushanbe’s maternity house # 3 became the eight millionth resident of Tajikistan. She is the first child in the family of 33-year-old Maysara Sharipova and 37-year-old Rahmonali Sharipov.
February 6 – Tajikistan and Russia signed an agreement on duty-free Russian oil product deliveries to Tajikistan. Under this agreement, the sides consider and endorse the indicative fuel balance for the next calendar before October 1 of each year. Fuels delivered in addition to the indicative fuel balance will be liable to export duty.
February 7 – A court in Ukraine ruled that former Tajik Prime Minister Abdumalik Abdullojonov can be held in detention for up to 40 days while authorities await documents from Dushanbe regarding his possible extradition;
– Tajik border guards thwarted another attempt to cross the Afghan-Tajik border by suspected drug traffickers. Tajikistan”s State Committee for National Security said that two suspected Afghan drug traffickers were killed, two were wounded, and one was captured.
February 8 – Tajikistan and Russia signed an agreement on staying of Tajik nationals in the Russian Federation. The agreement provides for extending the period for registration for Tajik nationals on their arrival in Russia from seven to fifteen days, the source said.
February 10 – A court in Dushanbe’s Shohmansour district sentenced Abdurahmon Dodov, a former investigator with the police station in Dushanbe’s Shohmansour district, to two years in a settlement-colony (the prototype for the ‘open prisons’ that exist in many Western European countries) for negligence that caused a suspect”s death in custody. In 2011, Bahromiddin Shodiyev was arrested in Dushanbe on suspicion of theft. The following day, he was taken in a comatose state to a hospital, where he died 10 days later. Before he died, Shodiyev regained consciousness and told relatives he had been beaten until he confessed to crimes he had not committed. Shodiyev”s lawyer, Gulchehra Kholmatova, says Dodov”s sentence was too light and he should be charged with beating and torturing Shodiyev. In October, Amnesty International urged Tajik President Emomali Rahmon to take measures against torture and other ill-treatment in Tajikistan”s detention facilities.
February 10-12 – A special operation by officers from the State Committee for National Security (SCNS) led to the seizure of more than 138 kilograms of narcotics. The operation was carried out in two stages. On February 10, a Volga sedan was stopped in Sughd province and some 45 kilograms of heroin were found hidden in it. The second stage of the operation was carried out in Dushanbe on February 12. 94 kilograms of hashish were found in Mercedes with Kyrgyz number plate that was parked in one of garages in Dushanbe’s neighborhood # 33. In all, ten persons, including two policemen and two border officers, were arrested in the operation.
February 11-12 – The EU Special Representative for Central Asia, Ambassador Patricia Flor, visited Tajikistan. She met President Emomali Rahmon, the Head of the State Committee for National Security Saymumin Yatimov, the Minister of Justice Rustam Mengliyev, the First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Mahmoudjon Sobirov, and representatives of civil society. During her meetings Ambassador Flor reportedly discussed security issues, including the impact of developments in Afghanistan on Central Asia and the forthcoming first high level security dialogue between the EU and Central Asia;
– The third information-sharing and consultation meetings on the Assessment Studies for the proposed Roghun Hydropower Project took place in Almaty, Kazakhstan. The purpose of the meetings was to share the interim findings of the two ongoing Assessment Studies – the Techno-Economic Assessment Study and the Environmental and Social Impact Assessment – with the governments and civil society of the Amu Darya Basin countries, and to get their feedback and comments. The Bank also briefed representatives of the donor organizations and diplomatic community in Central Asia on the latest findings of the assessments and the outcomes of the riparian information-sharing meetings.
February 13 – More than 100 vendors from one of local markets of administrative center of Vose district, Khatlon province went on strike to protest against recent rise in taxes and patent prices.
February 15 – Officers from the State Committee for National Security (SCNS) seized a large amount of hashish in two separate operations carried out in Dushanbe and the Shouroobod district of Khatlon province. Mahmoudjon Qurbonov, 33, from the Shouroobod district was detained in Dushanbe on suspicion of having been involved in drug pushing. More than 52 kilograms of hashish were found hidden in his Nissan Maxima. Amriddin Shoyev 29, from Dushanbe was detained by the SCNS officers in the Shouroobod district on suspicion of having been involved in drug trafficking. More than 63 kilograms of hashish were found hidden in his car. Bozor Qurbonov, 52, from the Shouroobod district and Ghufron Ismoilov, 33, from Sughd province were also arrested over Shoyev’s case. Besides, a joint operation carried out by SCNS officers and border guards at the Tajik-Afghan border in the Farkhor district, Khatlon province led to the seizure of 16 kilograms of cannabis and more than five kilograms of raw opium, the SCNS press center said.
February 16 – India provided 5.5 million U.S. dollars worth of no-strings aid to the Ministry of Defense (MoD) of Tajikistan. Representatives from India’s Defense Ministry handed over one Russian helicopter MI-8 and six military transport trucks to the Tajik side. The helicopter and the trucks were donated in a no-strings aid.
February 17 – Resident of the northern province of Sughd got a jail term of ten years for membership in the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU). The Khujand city court sentenced resident of Panjakent, Fakhriddin Bozorov, 40, to ten years in prison and confiscation of his personal property. The sentence followed his conviction on charges of participation in a criminal grouping (Article 187 (2) of Tajikistan’s Penal Code) and organization of activities of an extremist grouping (Article 307 (2) of Tajikistan’s Penal Code). Bozorov will serve his term in a high-security penal colony.
February 18 – The Prosecutor-General’s Office of Tajikistan sent an extradition request for former Tajik Prime Minister Abdumalik Abdullojonov to the Ukrainian authorities. Abduqodir Muhammadiyev, the First Deputy Prosecutor-General, says the extradition request is based on the 60-volume criminal proceedings instituted against Abdullojonov in 1998.
February 19 – The trial of two suspects in the high-profile killing of the GBAO regional security chief started in Khorog, the capital of the Gorno Badakhshan Autonomous Region (GBAO). The sessions are being held behind closed doors. The suspects — Oqil Ayombekov and Hamza Murodov — are accused of killing regional security chief Abdullo Nazarov last summer. They surrendered after Tajik government forces conducted a military operation against their armed supporters. The GABO regional security chief Abdullo Nazarov was stabbed to death on July 21, 2012. The clashes began in Khorog on July 24 when government forces launched a military operation against what it called “militants” following the murder of the regional security chief;
– A well-known Tajik journalist and activist Bakhtiyor Sattori was stabbed in Moscow. An unknown assailant attacked him near his apartment. Sattori underwent surgery and doctors say his condition is serious but stable. Sattori said he has no idea who is behind the attack. Bakhtiyor Sattori, 49, worked at the Tajik Embassy in Moscow before becoming the press secretary of the Tajik Migration Service”s representative board in Moscow. After losing his job last year, Sattori became an active member of an organization called the Training Club of Tajikistan”s Future Government;
– Tajik President Emomali Rahmon received Mr. Saroj Kumar Jha, World Bank Regional Director for Central Asia. The two discussed a broad range of issues related to bilateral cooperation between Tajikistan and the World Bank;
– An operation by officers from the Drug Control Agency (DCA)’s office in Khatlon province led to the seizure of 43 kilograms of hashish and some 4 kilograms of raw opium in the Shouroobod district.
February 20-22 – U.S. Assistant Secretary for South and Central Asian Affairs Robert Blake was in Dushanbe on a working visit. He held talks with Tajik President Emomali Rahmon and met with NGO representatives and civil-society activists. During his stay in Tajikistan, Blake also took part in the annual U.S.-Tajikistan consultations.
February 21-22 – Afghan Minister of Higher Education Ubaidullah Ubaid heading Afghan educational delegation visited Tajikistan. The delegation members included Khoushhal Tasali, an official with the Ministry of Higher Education of Afghanistan, and Dr. Shirin Aga Zarif, Chancellor of Kabul Medical University and the purpose of the visit is for the delegation to discuss with Tajik colleagues bilateral education cooperation.
February 23 – Tajikistan marked Tajik National Army Day. On this occasion, a military parade was held in Dushanbe.
February 25 – Tajikistan’s daily newspaper,
Imrouz News
(News Today), has lost a libel case in a Dushanbe court Rustam Hukumov’s suit for moral damages over publication of an article critical of him. The judge, Sherzod Nizomov, satisfied Rustam Hukumov’s suit against the newspaper for moral damages and ruled that
Imrouz News
must pay 50,000 somoni to him. The court also ordered the paper to publicly apologize to the plaintiff. The case, filed in January by Rustam Hukumov, son of the head of Tajikistan”s State Rail Company, stems from an October 2012 article published by
Imrouz News
which questioned the reasons behind the plaintiff”s release from a Russian jail a year earlier.
February 27-28 – A United States Government delegation led by Lynne Tracy, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia and David Sedney, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Central Asia was in Dushanbe to discuss developments in Afghanistan with Tajik officials.
February 28 – Two residents of Khorog – Oqil Ayombekov and Hamza Murodov – got long jail terms for killing regional security chief Abdullo Nazarov in the Gorno Badakhshan Autonomous Region (GBAO). The court in Khorog, the capital of Gorno Badakhshan, sentenced Oqil Ayombekov and Hamza Murodov to 17 and 16 years in prison respectively. The sentence followed their conviction on charges of murder (Article 104 (2) of Tajikistan’s Penal Code), weapon embezzlement (Article 194 (4), and use of violence against a representative of authorities (Article 328 (2). They will serve their terms in a high-security penal colony and their personal properties will be confiscated.
