DUSHANBE, March 7, 2014, Asia-Plus – One of former field commanders of the Popular Front of the Popular Front of Tajikistan (PFT — a paramilitary group that supported the government during the five-year conflict), Davlat Cholov, has been arrested for calling on Kulob youth to fight on the side of antigovernment forces in Syria, a source at the Ministry of Interior (MoI) told Asia-Plus today.
According to him, Davlat Cholov was arrested in late February and criminal proceedings were instituted against him for participation in the antigovernment mutiny in Syria.
“There is suspicion that over the past several months, Davlat Cholov has participated in mutiny in Egypt and on return to Tajikistan he was going to call on young men to go with him to Syria to fight on the side on Syrian rebel forces,” the source said.
Davlat Cholov is one of brothers of Qurbon Cholov, who was one of top warlords of the PFT in the Kulob region. Two other brothers of Qurbon Cholov — Firdavs and Sulaymon — were sentenced to 6 and 8 years in prison respectively. One more of the Cholov brothers – Javharsho — has been held in the detention center in Kulob for already three months and his case will move to a court within the next few days.
It is considered that the Cholov family contributed to the current leadership’s rise to power in the country and Qurbon Cholov held leadership positions in Tajikistan’s border control committee in the 1990s. But campaign on removing warlords from leadership positions was launched in early 2000s and Qurbon Cholov and some other PFT warlords were dismissed in 2002.
We will recall that in December, Tajikistan”s Supreme Court sentenced five of the country”s citizens to around two years in jail for fighting on the side of antigovernment forces in Syria. The five were reportedly students at the Syrian International University who decided to join Syrian rebel forces. All five were detained in October when they returned to Tajikistan. Since Tajikistan does not have a law against “mercenaries,” the five were charged with “participation in a criminal group or in other armed groups.” Last year, there were reports several Tajik nationals were killed in fighting in Syria.
