Deputy leader of the Social democratic Party of Tajikistan (SDPT), Mahmourod Odinayev, has got a lengthy jail term on charges of hooliganism and calling for extremism.
A court in Roudaki district sentenced Mahmourod Odinayev to 14 years in prison on January 28.
The sentenced followed his conviction on charges hooliganism committed by a group of people by prior conspiracy, with resistance to government officials or to other persons charged with the responsibility of maintaining public order.(Article 237 (2) of Tajikistan’s Penal Code) and public calls for extremist activity or public justification of extremism.( Article 307 (1) of Tajikistan’s Penal Code).
The court's ruling was nearly identical to the prosecution's earlier demand for a 15-year prison term.
The court also found Odinayev's son Habibulllo guilty of hooliganism and imposed a 58,000-somoni fine on him.
First deputy leader of the SDPT, Shokirjon Hakimov, considers the verdict passed on Mahmourod Odinayev too harsh. He noted that if the verdict is available in writing, they will try to challenge the verdict.
Recall, the trial of Mahmourod Odinayev was behind closed doors.
According to some sources Mahmourod Odinayev went missing on November 20 after he asked Dushanbe Mayor Rustam Emomali in a Facebook post to allow him and supporters of the Social Democratic Party to stage a demonstration over food-price hikes.
The Prosecutor’s Office said on December 5 that Mahmourod Odinayev had been detained in Dushanbe.
According to the authorities, he allegedly conducted an act of hooliganism in a military draft office in Hisor in late October, where prosecutors say he confronted officials over the conscription of his son Habibullo.
The Hisor prosecutor’s office on November 20 instituted criminal proceedings against Mahmourod Odinayev under provisions of Article 237 (2) of Tajikistan’s Penal Code – hooliganism committed by a group of people by prior conspiracy, with resistance to government officials or to other persons charged with the responsibility of maintaining public order.
According to SDPT leader, Odinayev contacted him on December 4, the day before his arrest. “He told me that he was being persecuted for dissent and he was forced to flee when law enforcement officers came for him to home,” Zoyirov said.
