DUSHANBE, July 22, 2016, Asia-Plus – Tajikistan is currently conducting negotiations with Interpol member nations over extradition of Muhiddin Kabiri, the leader of the banned Islamic Revival Party of Tajikistan (IRPT), Tajik Interior Minister Ramazon Rahimzoda told reporters in Dushanbe on July 22.
“There are Tajik nationals detained in Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Germany and Poland,” said the minister. “All of them are members of terrorist organizations and we are currently conducting negotiations on processing of appropriate extradition documents.”
The Prosecutor-General’s Office of Tajikistan is reportedly conducting negotiations with Interpol.
“Over the first six months of this year, Russia has extradited 71 people to Tajikistan,” Rahimzoda said.
The Islamic Revival Party of Tajikistan held places in the government from the end of the 1990s until March 2015, when the party lost two seats it had in parliament. Tajik authorities then moved quickly to cancel the IRPT’s registration. Leading members and activists of the party were detained last September after being connected to an alleged mutiny by a deputy defense minister.
Tajikistan’s Supreme Court banned the Islamic Revival Party as terrorist group on September 29, 2015 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
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, has rejected the accusations.
