Four state offices, including one university, checked the content of the book “The weather of my life”, which, according to the authorities of Tajikistan, “incited national and religious hatred”.
Literary, political, religious test
The Prosecutor General’s Office of Tajikistan confirmed in a letter to Radio Ozod on December 1 that “the book passed computer, religious, literary-political and psychological examination”, but did not say anything about the result or the examining institutions.
The sources of Radio Ozodi reported on December 5 that “The weather of my life” was checked by specialists of the Ministry of Culture, the Committee of Religion, the Academy of Sciences and the National University of Tajikistan. Radio Ozodi’s attempts to obtain details from the prosecutor’s office and other institutions have so far been unsuccessful.
Representatives of one of the agencies whose employees participated in the examination of the book “The Weather of My Life” told Radio Ozodi that they have no right to disclose the results until the court proceedings begin.
Until now, some Tajik officials have criticized the content of the book “The weather of my life” . Emomali Nasriddinzoda, assistant to the president of the republic; Farhad Rahimi, president of the Academy of Sciences; Khairinnisa Yusufi, deputy chairman of the ruling People’s Democratic Party and Abdujabbor Rahmonzoda, the ambassador of Tajikistan to Uzbekistan. Some of their writings were commissioned.
What did they say in the book?
The book of memoirs of Tajik businessman Abdukhalil Khaliqzoda called “My Life’s Weather” was released in March this year. In it, the author expressed his concern about the business climate, corruption, low level of culture and education in Tajikistan, and also expressed his experience of cooperation with representatives of different regions of Tajikistan.
Some of the users of social networks, including the person in charge of the publishing department of the Ministry of Culture, claimed that the author of the book insulted the representatives of some localities. Before his arrest, Abdukhalil Khaliqzoda denied all this and wrote on his Facebook page that for him, “the destiny of the nation and the security and development of the country is important” for him.
In August, the authorities removed this book from the stores and arrested the author Abdukhalil Khaliqzoda, the well-known writer Abdukadiri Rustam and the director of the “Er-graf” publishing house Suhrob Rajabzoda in connection with the publication of the book. All of them are suspected of inciting national and religious hatred by a group of individuals (Part 2 of Article 189 of the Criminal Code). This article of the law means five to ten years of imprisonment.
“Khaliqzoda said that he wrote the book himself”
The Prosecutor General’s Office of Tajikistan wrote in a letter to Radio Ozodi on December 1 that the investigation of the case of writer Abdukadir Rustam is ongoing. The prosecution mentioned him as the editor of the book “Havodis Rozhgori Man”. This is despite the fact that his name as an editor is not mentioned in the book.
Sources familiar with the investigation of the case told Radio Ozodi that Abdukadir Rustam pleaded not guilty during the interrogation.
However, according to the sources of Radio Ozodi, Suhrob Rajabzoda, the manager of “Er-graf” told the investigators that he had published the book of Abdukadir Rustam several times, and this time the writer told him to publish “The weather of my life”, “his responsibility is on his shoulders. me.” Radio Ozodi cannot independently confirm it. The director of the publishing house is accused of publishing the book of Abdukhalil Khaliqzoda without permission.
Azodi sources said that Abdukhalil Khaliqzoda said during interrogations that he wrote the book entirely by himself. “For the test, they gave him a paper to write such and such a section of the book. He wrote and the investigators are satisfied,” said the source of Radio Ozodi in the authorities.
Links: “They are doing well”
Relatives of Abdukhalil Khaliqzoda, Abdugadiri Rustam and Suhrob Rajabzoda do not say anything about the case, apart from mentioning that “they are in good condition”.
A number of intellectuals, users of social networks and organizations opposed to the government condemned the arrest of the author of the book, Abdukhalil Khaliqzoda, and the writer Abdukadiri Rustam, and asked the government to release them without any reason.
Some of the sources of Radio Ozodi and people familiar with the case attributed the businessman’s arrest to a power struggle between the heads of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Ministry of Internal Affairs on the one hand, and the Prosecutor General’s Office of Tajikistan on the other . In this context, they mentioned the friendly relations between Abdukhalil Khaliqzoda and the heads of the first two institutions and one of the controversial meetings of the government.
Source : Радио Озоди