DUSHANBE, May 4, 216, Asia-Plus — A lawyer who defended members of the Islamic Revival Party of Tajikistan (IRPT) is going on trial in Dushanbe on charges of forgery and fraud.
Contrary to the authorities’ promises, representatives of media as well as diplomatic missions and international organizations active in the country were not allowed to attend the trial.
According to Buzurgmehr Yorov’s brother, Jamshed Yorov, Buzurgmehr Yorov has decided to reject his lawyer’s services “since the lawyer did not have enough time to familiarize himself with the case materials.” “Besides, Buzurgmehr has asked to change the judge presiding over the trial,” Jamshed Yorov said, noting that the next hearing is scheduled for May 10.
Known Tajik female human rights activist and lawyer Oynihol Bobonazarova says that Buzurgmehr Yorov stated yesterday that evidences of his innocence were not included in the case materials that proves once again that the case is politically motivated. “He demanded fair and unbiased trial,” Ms. Bobonazarova added.
We will recall that Yorov’s case moved to a court on April 5 and his case has been classified as “secret.”
Buzurgmehr Yorov was arrested on September 29, 2015 and the authorities charged him with fraud and document forgery under articles 247 and 340 of Tajikistan’s Penal Code.
The Interior Ministry spokesperson said the alleged fraud occurred in July 2010, when Yorov had purportedly received US$4,000 from a resident of the city of Istaravshan.
Besides, Buzurgmehr Yorov is also charged with inciting regional and religious enmity (Article 189), public calls for the forcible overthrow of or change to the constitutional order in Tajikistan (Article 307), and public calls for carrying out extremist activity (Article 2071).
Meanwhile, international human rights groups say Yorov was arrested in retaliation for representing 13 members of the opposition Islamic Revival Party of Tajikistan (IRPT). The government banned the party in August last year and declared it a terrorist organization on September 29, 2015.
In a statement released on October 7, 2015, six international human rights groups urged the Tajik authorities to release or present credible and internationally recognizable charges against Buzurgmehr Yorov.
Yorov is at least the fourth Tajik lawyer authorities have arrested, imprisoned on politically motivated charges, or subjected to serious harassment in less than two years, the statement said.
The human rights groups urging Tajikistan to act are Amnesty International, the Paris Bar, Association for Human Rights in Central Asia, Human Rights Watch, the International Partnership for Human Rights (IPHR), and the Norwegian Helsinki Committee.
At the time of his arrest, Yorov had just begun to represent 13 members of the IRPT, whom authorities arrested on various charges on September 16. In an interview with a journalist published the day he was arrested, Yorov said that one client, Umarali Hisaynov, a deputy party leader, told him that officers from the Police Unit for Combating Organized Crime had beaten him following his arrest.
