An activist of Tajik opposition organization Group 24, Zulfiqahhor Kholov, has reportedly been detained in Moscow.
TajInfo website says Zulfiqahhor Kholov was detained in the Kummunarka settlement of Novaya Moskva (New Moscow) on April 11 and he was taken to the prosecutor’s office on April 12.
Zulfiqahhor Kholov is reportedly one of activists of Group24 and he lived in Istanbul, turkey from 2014 to 2015. He left Turkey after the murder of Group 24 leader Umarali Quvvatov in March 2015, according to TajInfo.
It is still unknown whether Kholov was arrested at the request of the Tajik authorities or there were any other reasons for the arrest of Zulfiqahhor Kholov.
The name of Zulfiqahhor Kholov is on the list of “persons involved in the financing of terrorism,” which was published by the National Bank of Tajikistan (NBT) in March this year.
Meanwhile Radio Liberty’s Tajik Service reported on April 10 that the Tajik authorities have lodged a formal request for Turkey to extradite two activists of Group 24, Suhrob Zafar and Nasim Sharipov, who were detained in Istanbul on March 19.
Tajik Interior Ministry spokesman Umarjon Emomali told RFE/RL’s Tajik Service on April 10 that Dushanbe is in talks with Ankara on the extradition of Suhrob Zafar and Nasim Sharipov.
Emomali did not specify exactly when Tajik authorities asked Turkey to extradite the two men.
The founding leader of Group 24 Umarali Quvvatov once had close ties with President Emomali Rahmon’s relatives but became an opponent. He fled Tajikistan for Moscow in the summer of 2012. There he formed an organization called Group 24, which he claims is a new political movement opposed to incumbent President Rahmon. He was wanted by Dushanbe on fraud charges that he said were politically motivated.
Quvvatov stayed in Russia and the United Arab Emirates before moving to Turkey. On December 19, 2014, Umarali Quvvatov was arrested in Istanbul for visa violations, but he was released on February 3, 2015. Umarali Quvvatov was shot dead by unidentified assailant in Istanbul, Turkey on March 5, 2015.
Several members of the group were jailed in Tajikistan after he was killed.
Tajikistan’s Supreme Court banned Group 24 on October 9, 2014 following growing government pressure on the opposition group after it used the Internet to call for street protests in the capital, Dushanbe, on October 10, 2014.
Supreme Court judge Salomat Hakimova ruled that Group 24 is an extremist organization, and therefore, it is banned in Tajikistan. Its website and printed materials were also banned.
In March 2015, three persons were jailed in Tajikistan for alleged association with the Group, receiving sentences ranging from 16½ to 17½ years. In April 2015, another two persons were sent into prison for 3½ and 3 years for alleged organization of the Group’s activities inside Tajikistan.
Besides, Maqsoud Ibrohimov, leader of the Russian-registered organization “Youth for the Revival of Tajikistan,” was sentenced to 17 years in prison on June 24, 2015. He was member of the governing board of the opposition coalition New Tajikistan, which includes Group 24. Maqsoud Ibrohimov was accused of being member of Group 24 but he denied any association with Group 24.
