DUSHANBE, January 16, 2015, Asia-Plus — In a report released at a news conference in Dushanbe, Tajik Interior Minister Ramazon Rahimzoda revealed on January 16 that the country’s law enforcement authorities last year instituted criminal proceedings against 53 Tajik nationals for participation in foreign armed conflicts.
“Twelve of them were fighting in Syria and Iraq,” the minister noted, noting that three Tajik nationals who had given up fighting in Syria and returned home had been amnestied.
“Around 200 Tajik nationals are fighting in Syria and Iraq,” Rahimzoda said.
The minister noted that no measures had been introduced against relatives of Tajik militants fighting in Syria and Iraq.
“We ask them to help us return their relatives to Tajikistan,” Rahimzoda said.
The minister noted that all Tajik nationals participating in foreign armed conflicts will be amnestied if they return to Tajikistan.
It is to be noted that the Tajik law enforcement agencies have given differing reports on the numbers of Tajik nationals fighting in Syria and Iraq. Thus, the Interior Ministry said that around 200 Tajik nationals are fighting gin Syria and Iraq.
However, the State Committee for the National Security (SCNS) said in November 2014 that there are around 300 Tajik citizens fighting in Syria and Iraq.
Meanwhile, Radio Liberty quoted Edward Lemon of the University of Exeter, who tracks Tajik fighters in Syria, as saying that he has found online evidence of 52 Tajik fighters in Syria.
We will recall that in December 2013, Tajikistan”s Supreme Court sentenced five of the country”s citizens to around two years in jail for fighting on the side of antigovernment forces in Syria. The five were reportedly students at the Syrian International University who decided to join Syrian rebel forces. All five were detained in October when they returned to Tajikistan. Since Tajikistan did not have that time a law against “mercenaries,” the five were charged with “participation in a criminal group or in other armed groups.”
On May 22, 2014, the Tajik parliament approved an amendment to the Criminal Code stipulating punishment for Tajik nationals taking part in foreign armed conflicts.
