DUSHANBE, February 8, 2016, Asia-Plus /Avaz Yuldoshev/ — Investigation into cases of 199 people suspected of participation in a September deadly mutiny has been completed and they have moved to the Supreme Court, Tajik Chief Military Prosecutor Safarali Mirzozoda told reporters in Dushanbe on February 9.
He in particular, noted 172 of 199 defendants were not members of the banned Islamic Revival Party (IRP).
“36 participants of the mutiny were killed during a special operation while 40 other participants of the mutiny are internationally wanted,” Tajik chief military prosecutor noted.
According to him, the arrested property of participants and organizers of the mutiny has been estimated at 151 million somoni.
Mirzozoda further added that investigation into financing of the mutiny by foreign countries and foreign nationals was under way.
Meanwhile, representatives of the Agency for State Financial Control and Combating Corruption told reporters on February 2 that the anticorruption agency is investigating entrepreneurial activities of the mutinous general Abduhalim Nazarzoda, also known as Hoji Halim, and the leader of the banned Islamic Revival Party (IRP) Muhiddin Kabiri.
We will recall that former deputy defense minister Abduhalim Nazarzoda and a group of gunmen under his control launched a predawn attack on the main police station in the Vahdat Township east of Dushanbe on September 4, 2015 and clashed later that day with security forces at a Defense Ministry building not far from the Dushanbe International Airport. Nine police officers were killed and six others were wounded in those attacks.
Nazarzoda, his associate Colonel Junaidulloh Umarov, and several other gunmen then fled to the Romit Gorge, adjacent to Vahdat, where security forces were targeting them in a large-scale manhunt. Abduhalim Nazarzoda was killed along with 10 of his supporters during a battle in Romit on September 16. His associate Colonel Junaidulloh Umarov was also killed.
Tajik authorities have said that mutinous general Abduhalim Nazarzoda, who was killed in a special security operation in the Romit Gorge on September 16, was allegedly linked to the banned IRP.
Tajikistan’s Supreme Court banned the Islamic Revival Party as terrorist group on September 29 on the basis of a suit filed by the Prosecutor-General’s Office. The Supreme Court ruled that the IRP should be included on a blacklist of extremist and terrorist organizations. The verdict forces the closure of the IRPT”s official newspaper
Najot
(Salvation) and bans the distribution of any video, audio, or printed materials related to the party”s activities.
Muhiddin Kabiri remains in a self-imposed exile outside Tajikistan.
