Interior Ministry Organized Crime Control Directorate Chief Shod Hafizzoda says the detained blogger Abdullo Ghurbati is charged with membership in the Islamic Renaissance Party of Tajikistan (IRPT), which has been banned in Tajikistan since 2015, when it was designated a terrorist organization.
“According to the information we have, journalist Abdullo Ghurbati is suspected of using violence against a representative of public authority and insulting him as well as being member of the Islamic Renaissance Party of Tajikistan, which is banned in Tajikistan,” Shodi Hafizzoda said, answering Asia-Plus reporter’s question.
According to him, the prosecutor office in Dushanbe’s Shohmansour district has instituted criminal proceedings against Abdullo Ghurbati over both facts.
Hafizzoda refrained from answering other questions from journalists.
“For more information, contact the prosecutor's office, which is investigating Ghurbati’s case,” senior police official added.
Meanwhile, after more than one month, the prosecutor's office in Dushanbe’s Shohmansour district has not commented on the reasons for the detention of Abdullo Ghurbati.
Besides, our attempts to find Ghurbati’s defense lawyer to get a comment on the matter from him were also unsuccessful.
Recall, Abdullo Ghurbati and Daler Imomali, two popular bloggers known for their reports criticizing authorities, were detained in Dushanbe late on June 15 after being summoned by police for questioning.
Ghurbati is accused of beating a police officer at the police station in Dushanbe’s Shohmansour district, a charge that could carry a fine or a two-year prison sentence.
Abdullo Ghurbati denied the accusations and pleaded not guilty, while Daler Imomali previously pleaded guilty partially.
A court in Dushanbe’s Shohmansour district has ordered pretrial detention of two months for Abdullo Ghurbati and Daler Imomali.
Journalists and civil rights activists have called for the release of Abdullo Ghurbati and Daler Imomali. Reporters Without Borders condemned their detention, calling for their immediate release.
In a statement released on June 22, Human Rights Watch (HRW) called on the Tajik authorities to release the two detained bloggers and respect media freedom.
Founded in October 1990, the Islamic Revival Party of Tajikistan was the only Islamic party officially registered in former Soviet Central Asia. The IRPT was registered on December 4, 1991. It was banned by the Supreme Court in June 1993 and legalized in August 1999.
Since 1999, the party had reportedly been the second-largest party in Tajikistan after the ruling People’s Democratic Party of Tajikistan.
In the 2005 and 2010 parliamentary elections, the IRPT won two out of 63 seats in the parliament, but the party suffered a crushing defeat in Tajikistan’s March 2015 vote, failing to clear the 5 percent threshold needed to win parliament seats.
Tajikistan’s Supreme Court banned the Islamic Revival Party as terrorist group on September 29, 2015 on the basis of a suit filed by the Prosecutor-General’s Office. The Supreme Court ruled that the IRPT should be included on a blacklist of extremist and terrorist organizations. The verdict forces the closure of the IRPT’s official newspaper Najot and bans the distribution of any video, audio, or printed materials related to the party’s activities.
