Tajik Foreign Minister Sirojiddin Muhriddin yesterday had a telephone conversation with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov, according to the Tajik MFA information department.
The two reportedly discussed an incident that took place in Zalari settlement of Zalarinsky district of Russia’s Irkutsk oblast on November that ended with killing of two Tajik nationals.
Muhriddin drew attention of Lavrov to the necessity of thoroughly investigating the incident and punishing those guilty, the Tajik MFA information department says.
The ministers reportedly agreed to take this issue under special control.
Muhriddin and Lavrov also discussed state and prospects of further expansion of bilateral cooperation between Tajikistan and Russia and exchanged views on cooperation between the two countries within the framework of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO).
Recall, a court in Irkutsk oblast took three nationals of Tajikistan into custody until January 22, 2022. Qurbonmad Sodiqov and Daler Hasanov are suspected of attempted murder and Jumaboy Iskandarov is suspected of hooliganism.
The investigation considers them to be participants in a fight, which ended with the arson of a construction trailer by local residents.
Local resident set fire to the trailer on the night of November 12. As a result of arson, two Tajik nationals – a 21-year-old Nasimjon Saidali and a 19-year-old Sirojiddin Gulzoda – were killed and five others were taken to a medical facility with injuries of varying severity.
According to Radio Ozodi, three local residents were arrested on suspicion of setting fire to the trailer. But a source close to the investigation has told Radio Ozodi that two of suspects were later released, and currently only a 26-year-old resident is in pretrial detention.
