Shuhrat Qudratov, who was one of defense lawyers for the jailed former ministry of industry Zayd Saidov, is expected to be released from prison in August this year.
The head of the Legal Consortium of Tjaikistan, Rahmatillo Zoyirov, who is also the head of the Social-Democratic Party of Tajikistan (SDPT), has represented Shuhrat Qudratov in the trial. He says the Tajik authorities have confirmed that Shuhrat Qudratov will be released from prison on August 26 this year.
“The Prosecutor-General’s Office and the Ministry of Justice have replied to the letter by Qudratov’s wife Dilafrouz Qurbonova, noting that Shuhrat Qudratov will be released on August 26, 2018. The letter also says that her husband has not fallen under the provisions of the amnesty announced on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of Tajikistan’s Independence,” Zoyirov noted.
He further added that he does not agree with that decision and prepared a legal opinion that Shuhrat Qudratov should be amnestied and released.
“Tomorrow, I will send the opinion to the Supreme Court, the Ministry of Justice, the Prosecutor-General’s Office and Ombudsman’s Office,” SDPT leader told Asia-Plus Monday afternoon.
Recall, the Dushanbe city court sentenced Shuhrat Qudratov to nine years in prison on January 13, 2014. The sentence followed his conviction of charges of bribery and fraud.
The court’s ruling was nearly identical to the prosecutor’s earlier demand for an 11-year prison term.
Shuhrat Qudratov was arrested on July 21, 2014.
An official statement released by the Tajik anticorruption agency on July 22, 2014 said that lawyer Shuhrat Qudratov was arrested on July 21 when allegedly taking a bribe from his client Amirali Sulamayev, who is accused of fraud. According to the statement, Mr. Qudratov intended to pass on this bribe to one of the judges of a court in Dushanbe’s Ismoili Somoni district “in order to ensure an acquittal verdict of the court.”
On these grounds, criminal proceedings were instituted against Mr. Qudratov under three articles of Tajikistan’s Penal Code: Article 36 – complicity in crime; Article 32 – preparation for crime and an attempt to commit a crime; Article 320 – bribery.
Qudratov was the second defense lawyer for Zayd Saidov to be detained by Tajik authorities. In March 2013, Saidov’s defense lawyer Fakhriddin Zokirov was arrested for his alleged debts to a local bank. Zokirov was reportedly amnestied on November 3, 2014.
