Judge Zafar Kodirov, accused under three articles of the Criminal Code, including abuse of office, forgery and the imposition of an illegal sentence, was released from the courtroom after paying about 75 thousand somoni. First Deputy Chairman of the Supreme Court Shavkat Lutfullozoda announced it at a press conference on August 14.
According to him, the former judge of the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Regional Court (GBAO), Zafar Kodirzoda, was released from the courtroom after paying a fine of 74,800 somoni (1100 indicators for calculations).
A criminal case was opened against him on charges of "taking bribes and fraud." In April of this year, he was arrested in Dushanbe. He was appointed a judge in GBAO in December 2022 by the decree of the President of Tajikistan. And in May of this year, he was dismissed "for acts discrediting the honor and dignity of the judge."
It was reported at the press conference that in the first 6 months of this year, two cases of detention of judges were recorded. One of them is the aforementioned Zafar Kodirzoda, and the other is Nasrullo Sadriddinzoda, who previously held the position of chairman of the Jabbor Rasulov district Court.
Earlier, Radio Ozodi reported that Nasrullo Sadriddinzoda is suspected of receiving a bribe of 23 thousand somoni from a resident of Jabbor Rasulov district.
Chairman of the Supreme Court Shermuhammad Shohyon called the situation alarming in connection with the commission of crimes by judges. According to him, during the first half of the year, the country's courts issued 203 illegal decisions, which is 26 more than in the same period of the previous year. According to his statement, all these court decisions were canceled.
In addition, he noted that during the audit of judges' activities, 8 judges were brought to disciplinary responsibility.
Over the past ten years, about 30 judges in Tajikistan have been dismissed, arrested and sentenced to prison on charges of "acts degrading the dignity of a judge." The official authorities do not disclose the details of the incidents that caused the dismissal, but some sources link these cases rather with bribery.
