DUSHANBE, May 28, 2014, Asia-Plus – On Wednesday May 28, Tajik Prosecutor-General Sherkhon Salimzoda met in Khorog with regional administrators of the Gorno Badakhshan Autonomous Region (GBAO) to discuss the recent incidents that had taken place in Khorog.
Dilovar Khosabekov, a spokesman for the GBAO regional administration, says representatives of all sections of the GBAO population attended the meeting and they pointed to the necessity of launching unbiased investigation into the last week’s deadly shooting followed by violent protests.
Khosabekov added that Tajik national TV channel, Shabakai Avval (Channel One), would show Tajik chief-prosecutor’s meeting with residents of Gorno Badakhshan.
Meanwhile, the head of the Social-Democratic Party (SDP)’s organization in GBAO, Alim Sherzamonov, notes that the situation in the region has calmed down.
We will recall that several dozens of protesters in the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region spent two nights in tents in the center of Khorog, taking their effort to convince the government to meet their demands.
The protesters were demanding an investigation into deadly clashes on May 21 and the resignations of the local governor, police chiefs, and prosecutor.
Two suspected drug traffickers were killed and one was wounded by police officers on May 21. Besides, two persons were killed and at least seven people were wounded on the same day after police opened fire on a crowd that tried to storm a police station. The fatalities occurred during a police offensive against suspected criminals and ensuing clashes between security forces and local residents upset with the police action.
The wounded suspected drug trafficker died in the hospital Friday night (May 23), sparking the march on the building of the SCNS’s office for GBAO in Khorog. At least one person was killed and two wounded. Witnesses reported that one of the protesters threw a grenade at the building of the SCNS’s office and some protesters opened fire on the facility.
Protesters left the central square in Khorog Sunday (May 25) evening, after civil society activists and authorities agreed to investigate the May 21 incident.
