DUSHANBE, August 10, 2016, Asia-Plus – The 60-year-old ex-Interior Minister Yoqub Salimov, who was recently released from jail, has gone to Germany for medical treatment, a reliable source close to the Salimov’s family told
Asia-Plus
in an interview.
“On completion of the course of medical treatment, Yoqub Salimov will return to Dushanbe,” the source added.
Meanwhile, Salimov’s son Abubakr confirmed that his father was currently outside the country but he refrained from saying where his father is now. “He is currently outside Tajikistan – he flew into space,” Abubakr told
Asia-Plus
by phone.
Recall that the 60-year-old Yoqub Salimov, who was sentenced to 15 years in prison on April 25, 2005, was released on June 21 this year after a 13-year imprisonment.
“I feel well and do not have any serious health problems except for visual impairment,” Yoqub Salimov told
Asia-Plus
in an interview at his home in Dushanbe on July 21.
Yoqub Salimov was one of top field commanders in the Popular Front, a paramilitary group that supported the government during the five-year civil conflict in 1992-1997.
Yoqub Salimov was one of the most powerful figures in Tajik politics after civil war broke out in the spring of 1992. He was once Tajikistan’s interior minister, ambassador to Turkey, and chairman of the state customs committee.
In 1990 Yoqub Salimov was convicted for taking part in Dushanbe riots. When Tajik Civil War broke out, Salimov was released from prison, and became one of leaders of the Popular Front. In 1997 he was charged with attempting a coup d”etat. Afterwards he fled Tajikistan, but was arrested in Moscow in 2003. Since July 2003, Salimov had been held at Moscow”s Lefortovo prison.
On February 24, 2004, he was extradited to Tajikistan. After a five-month trial that was held behind closed doors, the Supreme Court of Tajikistan found Salimov guilty of treason, banditry, and abuse of office and sentenced him to 15 years in prison on April 25, 2005.
Yoqub Salimov’s prison term was cut by two years in August 2011 under the partial amnesty granted to him.
