KHUJAND, June 26, 2013, Asia-Plus — Former regional reporter for the Dushanbe-based independent weekly
Nouri Zindagi
(Light of Life) in Sughd province, Mahmadyusuf Ismoilov, has been detained again.
Saidbek Saidov, the chief of the Interior Ministry’s office in the Asht district, has confirmed this information. “Police detained Mahmadyusuf Ismoilov on June 24 following an application by two local women,” Saidov told Asia-Plus in an interview. He, however, refrained from giving further details.
Meanwhile, Ismoilov’s wife told Asia-Plus on June 26 that a certain woman phoned Mahmadyusuf Ismoilov in the evening of June 24. “He went outside the house and did not return,” said Ismoilov’s wife. “Later, one of Mahmadyusuf relatives said that he was detained by police. I have not seen him since that day. Police do not allow me to meet with him. I do not know what for they detained him.”
It is not the first time police have detained Mahmadyusuf Ismoilov. We will recall that Mahmadyusuf Ismoilov was arrested in November 2010 on separate counts of defamation, insult, and incitement to hatred over an article titled, “Asht Is Being Destroyed. Who Is Responsible for It?” In the article, published in the August 2010 issue of Nouri Zindagi, Ismoilov criticized government and law enforcement officials in the Asht district in the northern Sughd province of Tajikistan, and cited corruption, abuse of office, and mismanagement of funds.
Ismoilov who was facing 16 years imprisonment on charges related to his professional activities was released on October 14, 2011. The Khujand court, however, barred Mahmadyusuf Ismoilov from journalistic work for three years, and ordered him to pay a fine in the amount of 35,000 somoni for causing moral damages.
