DUSHANBE, May 24, 2013, Asia-Plus — A Tajik businessman and former industry minister who recently announced he would create a new political party has been transferred from the temporary detention center of the Agency for State Financial Control and Combating Corruption to the detention facility run by the State Committee for National Security (SCNS).
“Zayd Saidov was transferred to the SCNS-run detention facility overnight on Thursday May 23,” Shavkat Saidov, one of Saidov’s defense lawyers, told Asia-Plus in an interview Friday afternoon.
According to him, an access to Zayd Saidov at the SCNS-run detention facility will be more restricted.
Tajik law enforcement authorities have instituted criminal proceedings against Zayd Saidov under the provisions of three articles of Tajikistan’s Penal Code: Article 247 (4) – large-scale fraud committed through misuse of powers; Article 250 (4) – extortion for the purpose of obtaining a large-scale property; and Article 314 (3) – abuse of office entailing grave consequences.
We will recall that a court in Dushanbe’s Firdavsi district issued the arrest warrant for Zayd Saidov on May 22. He was ordered held in pretrial detention for up to two months. The court also ruled that Zayd Saidov cannot be released on bail.
Zayd Saidov, the leader of Tajikistan”s unregistered New Tajikistan party, was detained on May 19 on charges of corruption. He has been stripped of his parliamentary immunity.
Saidov denies any wrongdoing and says his case is politically motivated. According to Radio Liberty’s Tajik Service, he said during the court hearing on May 22 that he is being persecuted for his decision last month to set up his new political party.
