DUSHANBE, July 3, 2014, Asia-Plus – Members of a joint commission for investigation into the last Khorog incident, who represent local civil society, have applied to the president for help.
In a statement released on July 3, they, in particular, note that investigation into the incident is biased.
According to them, no one of points of an agreement, reached by the authorities and civil society, has not been fulfilled so far. “The authorities are conducting the investigation one-sidedly and all verbal and written agreements have been broken.”
They also note that persecution of civil society activists participating in the commission is going on and becoming more and more sophisticated.
“We ask the president as the guarantor of the constitutional rights of citizens to interfere for early settlement of this crisis situation that has already led to hard political and socioeconomic consequences and may affect the national security of Tajikistan. If the government side persists in its behavior, we will have nothing to do but to leave the commission,” the statement says.
Signed by:
A.M. Sherzamonov,
F. Irgashev,
U.M. Mamadshoyeva,
M. Muborashoiyon,
T. Ayombekov,
N. Nazarov,
M. Mamadboqirov,
B. Bakhtiyorov,
Kh. Mamadshaoyev
We will recall that clashes in Khorog on May 21 left at least three people, including a police officer, dead and at least seven people, including three police officers, injured. The fatalities occurred during a police offensive against suspected criminals and ensuing clashes between security forces and local residents upset with the police action.
On May 24, one more person was killed and two injured when the protesters attacked the building of the State Committee for National Security (SCNS)’s office in Khorog using a grenade and firearms.
Hundreds of protesters spent two nights (May 23-24) in tents in the center of Khorog, demanding an investigation into deadly clashes on May 21 and the resignations of the local governor, police chiefs, and prosecutor
Interior Minister Ramazon Rahim and the presidential adviser on national security, Sherali Khairulloyev, were involved in the talks with the protesters.
