DUSHANBE, November 24, 2014, Asia-Plus — The case of Shuhrat Qudratov, the defense lawyer for the jailed Tajik businessman Zayd Saidov, has moved to a court
Tajikistan’s Legal Consortium head Rahmatillo Zoyirov, who is representing Shuhrat Qudratov during his bribery trial, says the case moved to the court on November 20 and the court will begin to considerate the case in December.
Shuhrat Qudratov faces charges of bribery, fraud, attempted crime and complicity in crime.
A statement, released by the Agency for State Financial Control and Combating Corruption on July 22, 2014, notes that Shuhrat Qudratov represented Amirali Sulamayev during his fraud trial in a court in Dushanbe’s Ismoili Somoni district.
According to the statement, Qudratov offered a bribe of 2,500 U.S. dollars to Judge Nizamov for bringing in an acquittal for his client. Qudratov was reportedly detained by anticorruption officers on July 21 while he was taking money from his client.
Criminal proceedings were instituted against Qudratov on July 21 under the provisions of three articles of Tajikistan’s Penal Code: Article 36 – complicity in crime; Article 32 – preparation for crime or attempted crime; and Article 320 – bribery.
Shuhrat Qudratov is the deputy head of the Social-Democratic Party (SDP) and SDP leader Rahmatillo Zoyirov is representing Qudratov during his bribery trial.
It is to be noted that Qudratov is the second defense lawyer for Zayd Saidov to be detained by Tajik authorities. In March, Saidov’s defense lawyer Fakhriddin Zokirov was arrested for his alleged debts to a local bank. Zokirov’s case has already moved to a court.
