In a statement released on October 6, Human Rights Watch (HRW), the Norwegian Helsinki Committee (NHC), and Association for Human Rights in Central Asia (AHRCA) call on the Tajik authorities to immediately release the convicted human rights lawyers Buzurgmehr Yorov and Nouriddin Mahkamov.
They, in particular, note that the convictions of Buzurgmehr Yorov and Nouriddin Mahkamov “strike a blow to freedom of expression and the independence of the legal profession in Tajikistan.”
“The lawyers should be immediately released and authorities should ensure the independence of Tajikistan’s legal profession,” the statement says, noting that Yorov’s and Mahkamov’s sentences are the latest developments in an unprecedented crackdown on dissent in the country, including on the legal profession.
Authorities have reportedly arrested, imprisoned, and intimidated numerous attorneys since 2014, in retaliation for representing political opponents or their willingness to take on politically sensitive cases. Other prominent human rights lawyers have received death threats and been threatened with trumped up charges, according to the statement.
“With this prosecution, Tajik authorities are attempting to silence two of the most active and independent voices of Tajikistan’s legal profession,” said Steve Swerdlow, Central Asia researcher at Human Rights Watch. “Yorov’s and Mahkamov’s sentences strike directly at the independence of the legal profession in the country.”
“The Tajik government is tightening the screws on lawyers it deems trouble, locking up those who represent the opposition, and even those who represent the ones who represent them,” said Marius Fossum, regional representative at the Norwegian Helsinki Committee. “Each day these lawyers spend behind bars is a disgrace and brings shame on Tajikistan’s judicial system.”
“The Tajik government has also taken steps to extend its control over the legal profession, significantly curtailing its independence. In November 2015, authorities approved a new law requiring all lawyers to renew their legal licenses with the Justice Ministry, instead of the independent bar association or licensing body, and to retake the bar examination every five years. Lawyers told Human Rights Watch and the Norwegian Helsinki Committee that the test, administered by the government, is being used to exclude those who take on politically sensitive cases. Prior to the changes, Tajikistan had approximately 2,000 registered lawyers. Following the passage of the new law, fewer than 500 are able to practice law in the country.
“The United Nations Basic Principles on the Role of Lawyers state that lawyers “shall not be identified with their clients’ causes as a result of discharging their functions” and that they must be able “to perform all their professional functions without intimidation, hindrance, harassment or improper interference.”
“Furthermore, lawyers “shall not suffer, or be threatened with, prosecution or administrative, economic or other sanctions for any action taken in accordance with recognized professional duties, standards or ethics.”
“The United States, the European Union, and Tajikistan’s international partners should press the Tajik government to immediately release lawyers imprisoned and detained on politically motivated charges and to ensure that all lawyers are able to conduct their work without fear of threats or harassment, including arbitrary arrest or prosecution. International partners also should press Tajikistan to uphold its international obligations to respect freedom of association, assembly, and expression.”
Recall that the Dushanbe city court sentenced Buzurgmehr Yorov and Nouriddin Mahkamov to 23 and 21 years in prison respectively on October 6. They will serve their terms in a high-security penal colony.
The sentence followed their conviction on charges of inciting regional and religious enmity (Article 189 of Tajikistan’s Penal Code), public calls for the forcible overthrow of or change to the constitutional order in Tajikistan (Article 307), public calls for carrying out extremist activity (Article 307’), and fraud (Article 247). Buzurgmehr Yorov was also charged with document forgery (Article 340).
The lawyers are barred from practice for five years.
The court's ruling was nearly identical to the prosecution's earlier demand for a 25-year prison term for Buzurgmehr Yorov and a 21-year prison term for Nouriddin Mahkamov.
Yorov and Mahkamov pleaded not guilty and called their trial politically motivated.
Buzurgmehr Yorov, formerly head of the law firm Sipar, was arrested on September 29, 2015 and Nouriddin Mahkamov, who also worked for the Sipar law firm, was arrested in late October 2015 after he sought to represent Yorov.
At the time of his arrest, Yorov had just begun to represent 13 members of the Islamic Revival Party of Tajikistan (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.
The attorneys’ case moved to a court on April 5 and it has been classified as “secret.” The trial began on May 5.
International human rights groups say Yorov was arrested in retaliation for representing 13 members of the opposition Islamic Revival Party of Tajikistan. 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 and Nouriddin Mahkamov.
Meanwhile, Buzurgmehr Yorov’s brother, Jamshed Yorov, who was representing the IRPT deputy leader Mahmadali Hayit in the trial, was arrested on August 22, 2016 and charged with “divulging state secrets.” On August 26, a court in Dushanbe’s Firdavsi district ordered his remand in pretrial detention. If convicted he could face up to 10 years in prison.
