A Tajik political opposition group that is labeled as extremist and banned in Tajikistan says one of its activists has been detained in Russia, according to Radio Liberty’s Tajik Service.
The Group 24 opposition movement reportedly said on September 2 that Shobuddin Badalov was detained a day earlier in the Russian city of Nizhny Novgorod by several men in civilian clothes, who introduced themselves as police officials. Badalov's current whereabouts are unknown.
According to the group, Badalov's detainment is linked to his political activities and Tajik authorities must have been involved in it.
Neither Russian nor Tajik officials have issued official statements regarding the situation.
In June, Badalov and another Tajik opposition activist Rahmatjon Muhammad, were arrested in Moscow and spent 15 days in jail after they organized a rally to protest Tajik President Emomali Rahmon's visit to the Russian capital.
Group 24 was founded by well-known businessman and opposition politician Umarali Quvvatov in 2012.
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.
Quvvatov’s cousin and business associate Sharofiddin Gadoyev was elected new leader of Group 24 on March 12, 2015.
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.
After the split in Group 24, Gadoyev created a new movement in the Netherlands called “Reforms and Development in Tajikistan.” The movement became member of the National Alliance of Tajikistan, which is led Muhiddin Kabiri, the chairman of the banned Islamic Renaissance Party of Tajikistan (IRPT).
