“I have nothing to do with the killing of Rahmon Safaraliyev, who was an imam (a worship leader) of one of mosques in the Hisor district,” former Deputy Prime Minister of Tajikistan, Jamoliddin Mansourov, who had also served as head of the Hisor district and mayor of Dushanbe in the 1990s, told Asia-Plus in an interview commenting on accusation brought against him by Rahmon Safaraliyev’s son, Badriddin Safaraliyev.
Recall, Badriddin Safaraliyev says Jamoliddin Mansourov, who had been the commander of the pro-government Popular Front in the Hisor district in early 1990s, in late 1992 killed his father Rahmon Safaraliyev, who was an imam (a worship leader) of one of mosques in the Hisor district.
Mansourov denies the accusation as absolutely baseless.
“I was summoned to the prosecutor’s office for questioning and acquainted myself with the application filed by Badriddin Safaraliyev. I do not need to justify myself because I have nothing to do with that crime. But now I am forced to protect my good name,” Mansourov said.
He further added that he even had not known Rahmon Safaraliyev. “The situation had been unstable in the district that time. But I remember well that I had not summoned Rahmon Safaraliyev to the Popular Front staff,” said Mansourov. “Moreover, I was outside Hisor from December 26 to December 31.”
He says that on December 27 he was in Dushanbe to participate a session of the Shuroi Oli (Supreme Council – former parliament of Tajikistan). “After that, by government’s order I went to Vahdat and Fayzobod districts to meet with the population and help local authorities stabilize the situation,” Mansourov said.
An aide to Mansourov presented a letter from residents of the Fayzobod district who note that in late December of 1992 Mansourov was in Fayzobod.
He also presented a similar letter from residents of the Vahdat district, who say that Mansourov
on December 30 participated in a meeting of local administrators.
Meanwhile, Badriddin Safaraliyev says that Jamoliddin Mansourov, the former head of the criminal investigation section at the Hisor police department Bahrom Suvanov, the former deputy commander of the Popular Front in the Hisor district Lutfullo Rouziyev and the deputy chief of the pretrial detention facility of the Hisor police department Kamoliddin Burhonov were involved in the murder of his father.
In early 1990s, Rahmon Safaraliyev (also known as Hoji Abdurahmon) had worked with the Hisor district waterworks and had been an imam of one of mosques in the Hisor district. On December 30, 1992, he was reportedly taken to the staff of the Popular Front in the Hisor district where he was shot to death. His son says that the Popular Front militants permitted him to take his father’s body only after he had given them 60,000 Soviet rubles.
Bahrom Suvanov says he knew Hoji Abdurahmon well. “Until 1989, I had served at the police station in the Hisor district and had met him [Hoji Abdurahmon] practically every day. In 1989, I was transferred to serve at the police station in the Shahrinav district and I had not seen Hoji Abdurahmon since that time,” Suvanov said.
According to him, he even had not heard about the murder of Hoji Abdurahmon.
“In October 1992, I was sent to Fayzobod and Vahdat district. Until March 1993, I had been in the Rasht,” Suvanov added.
Meanwhile, Hoji Abdurahmon’s wife Mastoura Naimova says a man in camouflage came to their home on December 29 and said that Jamoliddin Mansourov wants to see her husband tomorrow morning.
In the morning of the next day, Hoji Abdurahmon reportedly went to the Hisor rayispolkom (district executive committee). Hoji Abdurahmon had not returned home any more.
“Three days later, the head of our collective farm Khairullo Yuldoshev and I went to the rayispolkom to see Jamoliddin Mansourov. He had been commander of the Popular Front in the Hisor district. Yuldoshev entered the rayispolkom district and I remained outside. Yuldoshev stayed in the rayispolkom about an hour. When he came out he told me: “Don’t seek him. Pray for him so that he would be alive,” Mastoura Naimova told Asia-Plus in an interview.
“Seven days later, we were said that my husband had been found dead,” Mastroura Naimova added.
The Hisor prosecutor’s office has launched an investigation following an application by Badriddin Safaraliyev and Jamoliddin Mansourov has already been questioned, a source at in the Tajik law enforcement authorities told Asia-Plus in an interview on October 10.
According to him, Rahmon Safaraliyev’s body was exhumed on October 5 and the exhumation results will be published after the completion of all necessary procedures.
Representatives of the Hisor prosecutor’s office confirmed that Jamoliddin Mansourov had already been questioned in the framework of the investigation.
Investigation is under way.
