KHUJAND, May 11, 2015, Asia-Plus — A resident of the northern province of Sughd has been jailed for being adherent to a banned branch of Islam.
The Khujand city court sentenced a resident of the Bobojongahfourov district, D.H., to three years in jail on May 7.
The sentence reportedly followed his conviction on charges of being member of the outlawed Salafi group and organizing activities of an extremist group.
An official source at the Khujand city court says he was arrested by security officers in February this year and subversive literature was found in his home.
The Tajik authorities banned Salafism as an illegal group on January 8, 2009, saying the Salafi movement represents a potential threat to national security and the Supreme Court added Salafists to its list of religious groups prohibited from operating in the country.
The movement claims to follow a strict and pure form of Islam, but Tajik clerics say the Salafists’ radical stance is similar to that of the Taliban in Afghanistan.
Salafists do not recognize other branches of Islam, such as Shi”a and Sufism. The movement is frequently referred to as Wahhabism, although Salafis reject this as derogatory.
The overwhelming majority of Tajiks are followers of Hanafia, a more liberal branch of Sunni Islam.
On December 8, 2014, the Supreme Court of Tajikistan formally labeled the banned Salafi group as an extremist organization. The ruling reportedly followed a request submitted to the court by the Prosecutor-General’s Office. The ruling means that the group’s website and printed materials are also banned.
