DUSHANBE, May 31, 2016, Asia-Plus – The trial of leading members and activists of the banned Islamic Revival Party of Tajikistan (IRPT) is expected to conclude next week.
“The Supreme Court of Tajikistan is expected to complete consideration of the case of 13 leading members and activists of the Islamic Revival Party next week,” Savrinisso Jouryaeva, the wife of IRPT deputy head Mahmadali Hayit, told Asia-Plus in an interview.
“Our lawyer said a sentence will be handed down on June 4 or 5,” she added.
We will recall that a prosecutor in the trial of 13 leading members and activists of the Islamic Revival Party on May 11 asked for life imprisonment for Saidumar Husaini, Mahmadali Hayit, Qiyomiddin Avazov, Abduqahhor Davlat, and Rahmatullo Rajab.
The prosecutor said that the guilt of the five had been proven.
The prosecutor asked the court to sentence the remaining eight defendants to prison terms between eight and twenty-three years.
The accused include one woman, Zarafo Rahmoni, who worked as a legal adviser to the party’s leadership. The prosecutor demanded she be sent to jail for eight years.
The 13 were charged with conspiring with former Defense Minister Abduhalim Nazarzoda in a supposed armed bid to seize power in early September last year.
The trial that is being held behind closed doors began in Dushanbe on February 9.
IRPT deputy heads Saidumar Husaini and Muhammadali Hayit as well as the party activists Abduqahhor Davlat, Rahmatullo Rajab, Zubaydullo Roziq, Muhammadali Fayzmuhammad, Hikmatullo Sayfullozoda, Qiyomiddin Avazov, Zarafo Rahmoni, Mahmadsharif Nabiyev, Abdusamad Ghayratov, Sattor Karimov and Vohidkhon Qosiddinov are standing the trial.
IRPT leading members and activists standing the trial were arrested on September 16 and 17 after completion of the operation against the armed group of Abduhalim Nazarzoda.
In a statement released on September 17, the Prosecutor-General”s Office noted that they are suspected of abetting party leader Kabiri”s plot, saying that they had been arrested “to prevent more terrorist attacks in the country.”
In all, the Tajik authorities have arrested 23 leading members and activists of the IRPT, alleging their direct involvement into the September 4 attacks’ masterminding.
According to
RFE/RL’s Tajik Service
, the Supreme Court sentenced Hasan Rahimov, the IRPT head in Khatlon’s Farkhor district to nine years in prison on November 30. The sentence followed his conviction on charges of terrorism, religious extremism, inciting racial and religious enmity, and illegally possessing weapons.
The ruling against Hasan Rahimov was reportedly the first sentencing for 23 IRPT officials, who have been jailed or placed under investigation since the party was outlawed.
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 IRP”s official newspaper Najot (Salvation) and bans the distribution of any video, audio, or printed materials related to the party”s activities.
Party leader Muhiddin Kabiri, who now lives in exile, rejected the accusations.
