Human rights defenders have demanded the authorities of Tajikistan to cancel the charges against the political activist Nizomiddin Nasriddinov and release him.
A statement by the Norwegian Helsinki Committee, Human Rights Watch, Freedom For Eurasia and Freedom Now was released on September 11.
Nizamuddin Nasriddinov, a former member of “Group 24”, lived in Germany with his family in recent years. He was arrested in Belarus in January of this year and, despite the request of international organizations, was sent to Tajikistan .
The Tajik authorities have not yet officially explained the reason for his arrest and charges against him. Some of the official sources say that he is suspected of “public call to change the constitutional system by force” (Article 307 of the Criminal Code). This article of the law provides for imprisonment from 3 to 18 years.
Earlier, his lawyer in Belarus told Radio Ozodi that “he posted a critical video about the president of Tajikistan on YouTube.”
On September 11, human rights organizations said that they do not see the nature of the crime in the case of Nizamuddin Nasriddinov and “he should be released soon”.
“Peaceful activity and criticism of the authorities is not a crime,” they said and demanded that Nasriddinov be allowed to return to Germany to his wife and children.
Four organizations blamed the government for “a new wave of human rights crisis in Tajikistan”. According to their statement, “the government kidnapped and destroyed a number of political opponents and dissidents, and imprisoned hundreds of intellectuals, rights activists and peaceful opponents on false charges.”
The Tajik government was also criticized for “repressing the media and freedom of expression and banning political opposition”. The representatives of the organizations said that “torture is a common practice in the Tajik prison system” and impunity for human rights violations still remains.
Tajikistan’s response to the statement of the four human rights organizations is not yet known. In the past, government representatives have denied the violation of human rights and the repression of opponents and dissidents, accusing these people of crimes, including extremism.
35-year-old Nizamuddin Nasriddinov has been living in Germany since October 2015. In 2017, in his speech at the meeting of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, he introduced himself as a member of the “Group of 24”. The representatives of “Group 24” later announced that he is not a member of the organization since 2018.
His friends said that in recent years, Nasriddinov was engaged in the car business, and in January of this year, he went to Belarus for this purpose and was arrested at the border. Relatives of Nasriddinov gathered in front of the United Nations office in Bonn on September 8 and demanded the release of the father of the family.
In the past, several representatives of the Tajik opposition were arrested in Belarus, but were released under the pressure of journalists and human rights organizations.
At the same time, several cases of deportation of Tajik asylum seekers from European countries and their imprisonment in Tajikistan have been reported. Hizbullo Shovalizoda, a member of the Islamic Renaissance party banned in Tajikistan, was extradited from Austria to Tajikistan in 2020 and sentenced to 20 years in prison.
In January of this year, the German authorities sent Abdullahi Shamsiddin, the son of one of the activists of the banned Islamic Renaissance party in Tajikistan, to Dushanbe. According to Human Rights Watch, he was sentenced to seven years in prison . Some human rights organizations criticized Germany’s decision and asked for his release from Tajikistan, but they did not receive a response.
Source : Радио Озоди