DUSHANBE, November 20, 2013, Asia-Plus — on Tuesday November 19, Islamic Revival Party (IRP) leader Muhiddin Kabiri applied to the Prosecutor-General Sherkhon Salimzoda, asking to check a report released by some media sources that torture has been used by officers from the Isfara police station against the IRP members Umedjon Tojiyev and Zuhur Ibrohimov.
Kabiri says he intends to go to Isfara to clarify the situation. “I am going to visit Umedjon Tojiyev who is being held in detention facility of the Isfara police station,” IRP leader told Asia-Plus in an interview.
We will recall that the IRP activist Umedjon Tojiyev, 34, was hospitalized on November 2 after falling from the third floor of the Isfara police station.
Following testimonies from detained Zuhur Ibrohimov and Ghufron Shodiyev and confession of Tojiyev himself, the Isfara prosecutor’s office reportedly instituted criminal proceedings against Umedjon Tojiyev on November 2 under the provisions of Article 187 (2) of Tajikistan’s Penal Code – organizing a criminal grouping. He allegedly tried to escape from local police station by jumping off the third floor.
The Interior Ministry’s press center reported on November 4 that that Umedjon Tojiyev jumped from a third-floor window on November 2 and broke his leg.
By interior minister’s order an official injury was launched into the incident.
Tojiyev was initially arrested on October 30 for refusing to follow police instructions.
Radio Liberty’s Tajik Service reported on November 4 that Tojiyev’s colleagues and relatives say the charges against him are politically motivated and that he might have been tortured while in custody.
Founded in October 1990, the Islamic Revival Party of Tajikistan was registered on December 4, 1991. It was banned by the Supreme Court in June 1993 and legalized in August 1999. Its official newspaper is
Najot
(Salvation). According to some sources, IRP now has some 50,000 members. It won two seats in the 2010 parliamentary elections. The Islamic Revival Party of Tajikistan is the only Islamic party registered in CIS Central Asia.
IRP leadership says the increased pressure by the authorities on the party and its supporters complies with the spirit of Minute 32-20 (transcript of a secret session of the government; this minute was posted on a number of websites in March 2012).
We will recall that
Polyarnaya Zvezda
published a political commentary, headlined “Tajikistan on the Eve of Revolution” in March 2012. The article covered a meeting in which Tajikistan President Emomali Rahmon allegedly ordered security services to increase surveillance of local religious groups and members of the Islamic Revival Party of Tajikistan. The article also criticized Rahmon for growing authoritarianism, inattention to government corruption, and increasing poverty. Several other websites republished the article shortly after. Minutes of Rahmon’s meeting were also posted on Facebook.
