Police have reportedly stopped investigation into the attack on the Social-Democratic Party of Tajikistan (SDPT) leader Rahmatilo Zoirov that took place in Dushanbe on November 9.
“I was told that investigation into the attack on was stopped because police failed to identify persons who attacked me,” Rahmatillo Zoyirov told Asia-Plus in an interview on December 16.
“However, I have not yet received the copy of decision on termination of the investigation,” said SDPT leader. “As soon as I receive the copy of this decision I will make a number of statements for media.”
Meanwhile, Radio Liberty’s Tajik Service reports that a source at the Interior Ministry’s office in Dushanbe’s Sino district said on December 15 that investigators have failed to identify the assailants, and therefore, it has been decided to stop the investigation. The source reportedly refrained from giving further details.
SDPT leader still believes that the attack that was launched on him in Dushanbe on November 9 was politically motivated. He is convinced that the assailants studied his daily routine well and knew that he is walking his dog in that area every evening.
Recall, Rahmatillo Zoyirov said on his Facebook account on November 14 that he was attacked by a group of two men and one woman in Dushanbe late on November 9 while he was taking his dog for a walk.
Zoyirov said that the attack began with a woman in her mid- to late thirties verbally berating him in the street, calling him “a traitor.” Later, the woman was reportedly joined by a young man, who also hurled insults at Zoyirov.
As the verbal onslaught was taking place, a third man came up from behind and hit him with a metal bar, Zoyirov said. He said he threw up his right hand to protect his head and the bar badly injured his hand.
Rahmatillo Zoyirov told Asia-Plus on November 14 that he remembers faces of his assailants and could identify them.
“The assailants knew me by sight, they knew my name. I believe the attack was politically motivated,” Zoyirov said. He refrained from giving further comments on the incident.
According to RFE/RL, Zoyirov, who is a lawyer by profession, now works on a permanent basis in Kazakhstan and periodically travels to Tajikistan, where he has been unable to find a job for years.
Founded in 2002, the Social-Democratic Party was registered on December 20, 2002. It was originally registered as the Party of Justice and Development on February 5, 1999. Tajikistan’s Ministry of Justice requested the same year that the Supreme Court ban the party’s activities and its registration was canceled. The party re-emerged and was registered under the name of the Social-Democratic Party in late 2002. Chairman of the Social-Democratic Party is Rahmatillo Zoyirov and the party reportedly has 7,500 members.
The party backbone members reportedly include practicing lawyers from the legal firm Sipar and the party leader Rahmatillo Zoyirov is the head of Legal Consortium of Tajikistan.
Although the SDPT is officially registered in Tajikistan, it has never been represented in the parliament.
