The first deputy director of the Center for Strategic Studies under the President of Tajikistan Sayfullo Safarov, who recently returned from the OSCE Human Rights Conference from Warsaw, told "AP" what happened there.
The official claims that during his stay in Warsaw he did not promise amnesty to those who in Tajikistan were recognized by the court as criminals.
«I did not talk about political prisoners in Tajikistan, as some media outlets say, as I know well that in our country there are none at all», – Safarov said in an interview with "AP".
«We have imprisoned politicians convicted of specific criminal offenses and sentenced to various terms of imprisonment, but they are not political prisoners», – he stressed.
According to him, on the sidelines of the OSCE meeting in Warsaw, representatives of the Tajik opposition, including Mukhiddin Kabiri, approached him and asked to comment on the information that appeared in some media about an amnesty that, according to them, could cover some active members of the banned in Tajikistan , as a terrorist organization Islamic Revival Party.
«I told them that the declaration of amnesty in the country is the exclusive prerogative of President Emomali Rahmon, "Safarov said. – I did not reply to Kabiri that it would be announced soon, as he asserts in the media».
Meanwhile, earlier the source of the "AP" in the government confirmed the information that the conversation between Safarov and Kabiri in Warsaw took place.
«Kabiri himself approached Sayfullo Safarov and began a dispute about the prisoners, to which Safarov replied that they would soon be released», – noted then a source in the government.
Earlier, the media referring to the leader of the terrorist organization of Tajikistan, which was banned in Tajikistan IRP, Mukhiddin Kabiri, who was also invited to the OSCE meeting on human rights in Warsaw, wrote that the first deputy chairman of the CSS, Sayfullo Safarov, said that political prisoners in the country would soon be released.
Kabiri noted that Safarov himself allegedly told him about this on the sidelines of the meeting.
«Mr. Safarov said that all political prisoners will soon be released. He even called the number – 183 people, and mentioned Zaid Saidov, Mahmadali Hait and other opposition members, members of our party, activists and my deputies», – “Fergana” quotes Kabiri.
"Whoever did not commit crimes can return "
Safarov in the interview acknowledged that some members of the government delegation of Tajikistan in Warsaw, including him, took part in the meeting of the Tajik National Alliance of Tajikistan, which included the banned IRP, the “Movement for Reforms and Progress”, “Forum of Freethinkers of Tajikistan" and "Association of migrants of Central Asia in Europe".
«Speaking at that meeting, I noted that not all the citizens of Tajikistan who are members of the alliance are suspected of committing crimes in their homeland, and these people I called to return to Tajikistan, and if they have problems, to enter into a dialogue with the authorities», – Safarov stressed.
«However, at this call, the leader of the banned IRP reacted in his own way, and said, "Our negotiators are in prisons in Dushanbe," but I replied that my appeal only concerns those who did not commit crimes», – Safarov noted
The political scientist noted that according to his information, not all the citizens of Tajikistan who are currently in Europe are members of the National Alliance who are oppositional to the current authorities in the country.
«Many Tajiks who joined this alliance went to Europe for business, sport, study, family problems and they can always return to Tajikistan», – noted the deputy head of the CSS.
Meanwhile, in Youtube there was a video with Sayfullo Safarov's speech at the OSCE conference in Warsaw. In it, in particular, he expressed his opinion about the presence at the conference of representatives of the IRP.
«Tajikistan, as a member of the OSCE, has every right to demand compliance with the obligations that both sides have assumed. So let our opposition think about this a little. I do not know whether to cry or laugh or smile better, probably because it's very illiterate, very simply said that there is in fact», – Sayfullo Safarov stated.
He further noted that in Tajikistan constitutional reforms were carried out, laws on human rights and the electoral process were being improved.
«But, unfortunately, or fortunately, in the last elections our people did not choose two parties of totalitarian character. This is the Islamic Revival Party, which later turned into a terrorist organization and the Communist Party. But the Communists still work and live, and no one has anything against them, since they did not aggressively act against our population», – Safarov noted
