DUSHANBE, February 25, 2016, Asia-Plus – A 34-year-old woman from Dushanbe has been jailed for joining the extremist Islamic State (IS) group and calling on Tajik youth to join “jihad” in Syria.
A court in Dushanbe’s Ismoili Somoni district sentenced Zarina Sardorova to 13 years in prison on February 24. The sentenced followed her conviction on charges of “training, financing, and materially supporting mercenaries taking part in military conflicts” and “organizing activities of a banned group.” Zarina Sardorova will serve her term in a general-regime penal colony.
Zarina Sardorova is reportedly the first Tajik woman to be sentenced for involvement with the IS militant group.
According to a statement released by the Ismoili Somoni district court, Zarina Sardorova was arrested at Dushanbe International Airport in October last year after she arrived in Dushanbe from Istanbul.
The Interior Ministry says that while in Dushanbe, Zarina Sardorova simultaneously had two husbands and ‘nikoh’ (the Islamic marriage ceremony) of Sardorova to her second husband was reportedly performed by head of the Islamic Revival Party (IRP)’s organization for Dushanbe
According to
Radio Liberty’s Tajik Service
, investigators say Sardorova, the mother of two, set up an account with the Russian
Odnoklassniki
social network using a false name. She was accused of using the page, which featured a picture of her brandishing an AK-47 assault rifle, to call on young Tajiks to join “jihad” in Syria and Iraq.
Later, in early 2015, Sardorova reportedly traveled to Syria via Turkey, where she married an unidentified man. It was her third marriage.
A TV report prepared by the Interior Ministry that was shown on Tajik national TV channels on June 30, 2015 says that when in Syria, Sardorova begged the Tajik authorities through social networks to save her.
Sardorova”s sentencing took place two days after 14 residents of the Yovon district in Khatlon province were detained for questioning after they “liked” an Islamic extremist video posted on
Odnoklassniki
. The men were detained and questioned as part of an investigation into the video, which called on Tajik men and women to join the extremist IS group.
