Last year, Tajik law enforcement authorities solved murders 10 cases more than in 2019, Tajik chief prosecutor Yusuf Rahmon told reporters in Dushanbe on February 2.
According to him, the murder solution rate last year increased due to the solution of murders of past years.
As an example, Tajik chief prosecutor cited the case of a former field commander of the pro-government Popular Front, Khouja Karimov, known as Commander Khouja.
Investigation into the case of Khouja Karimov has been completed and it has moved to a court, Yusuf Rahmon noted.
Khouja Karimov is reportedly charged with participation in twenty murders of the past years.
Recall, the United Arab Emirates (U.A.E.) in February last year sent Commander Khouja back to Tajikistan where he faces charges of murder, robbery, kidnapping, and other crimes.
The Tajik Interior Ministry said on February 17 last year that Khouja Karimov — a commander of government troops during Tajikistan's five-year civil war — has been extradited to Dushanbe.
Karimov was arrested in the U.A.E. in July 2019 at the request of Tajikistan.
Tajikistan's civil war lasted from 1992 until 1997. The war ended after a peace accord was signed in Moscow by the rival sides.
Khouja Karimov, known as Commander Khouja, was one of influential field commanders of the pro-government Popular Front. He is notorious for reported cruelty during the conflict.
After the war, he was a deputy commander of a special brigade at the Defense Ministry. In the late 1990s, he was president of Tajikistan’s Football Federation and deputy of parliament.
In November 1998, he was arrested on charge of organizing killing of MPs S. Shoyev and T, Shukurov and taken to police custody, but later, he was released.
Karimov fled Tajikistan for Malaysia after Tajik authorities launched criminal charges against him in September 2005.
