Author: Mehrang

Intrigue, implausible plotlines, dramatic downfalls, wild rumours, and lingering uncertainties. Just the latest ingredients around fresh speculation that major political transition may be looming. The political scene in Tajikistan is so dormant, it is tempting to ignore it completely. That would be a mistake. An intra-elite soap opera currently playing out in Dushanbe has it all: intrigue, implausible plotlines, dramatic downfalls, treachery, wild rumours, and lingering uncertainties. The story begins on May 11, when the Democratic Party (DPT), whose single member in parliament ostensibly occupies the ranks of the opposition, held an extraordinary congress. The event was held for the…

A report released by Freedom House on February 16 notes that more than 20 percent of the world’s national governments have reached beyond their borders since 2014 to forcibly silence exiled political activists, journalists, former regime insiders, and members of ethnic or religious minorities, according to new data released today by Freedom House. The analysis reportedly finds that transnational repression—a set of physical and digital tactics used by governments to smother dissent among political exiles or diaspora communities in other countries—is a growing global problem. According to the new data, 25 countries’ governments were responsible for 125 incidents of physical…

Dubai (27/2) Tajikistan’s existential project to build the colossal 335-meter-high Roghun hydropower dam is proceeding apace, but costs are spiralling, and to a level that is making it hard to see where the government is going to find the funds needed to finish the work. To complicate matters for Dushanbe, this is happening against the backdrop of calls from environmental watchdogs for international development lenders to pause the allocation of any future funds to Tajikistan pending a fresh assessment of the project. The extent of the budget overshoot is striking. In a press conference on February 16, Finance Minister Faiziddin…

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…

A library in Kulob has become the resting place of a former prisoner who has not been able to find work for years. Rustam Kuvvatov, a resident of Vose district, who was released from prison in 2019, spends up to three days a week in the Kulob regional library. In 2017, he was imprisoned for five years after a quarrel with a neighbor on the charge of “Hooliganism”, but he was released before the term under the “Amnesty” law. Rustam Kuvvatov says that until 2016, he was a storekeeper at the Kulob Teacher’s College, but after his release from prison,…

Some of the women human rights defenders in Tajikistan for their work, especially protection of the rights of critics and opponents, reporters and cultural activists, are under criticism or pressure and threats and become silent, and others leave the country. Some groups continue their activities despite difficulties. November 29 is International Women’s Day. We talked to some of them. “Now there are about 800-900 people left” Dilrabo Samadova, head of the “Office of Civil Liberties” organization, has been working as a human rights defender in Tajikistan for almost two decades. In 2005, together with seven young lawyers, he founded the “Amparo” Association. This organization…

Two days after Mohammad Zahir Agbar, the ambassador of the former Afghan government in Dushanbe, tore up a letter circulated on behalf of the “Taliban” in the presence of reporters, the content of which was the appointment of a person as the first secretary of the embassy, ​​the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Taliban government, somehow reacted to it. Muhammad Zahir Agbar also said in the presence of reporters on November 7 that the Consulate of this country in Khorog is closed “due to lack of economic opportunities” and its employees continue to work in Dushanbe. However, in the video that…

Mohammad Zahir Agbar, the ambassador of the former government of Afghanistan, who considers himself the representative of the people of this country in Tajikistan, tore up a letter distributed on behalf of the “Taliban” in the presence of reporters. This letter is an order to appoint a person as the first secretary of the Afghan embassy in Tajikistan, and it is signed by Amir Khan Muttaki, the minister of foreign affairs of the Taliban government. “Taliban”, who have been in power in Afghanistan for two years, have not officially said anything about this. Who owns the consulate in Khorog? Mohammad Zahir…

The US military confirmed to Voice of America that 31 Abrams tanks are in Ukraine. All the Abrams tanks promised to Kyiv by the administration of President Joe Biden have arrived in Ukraine.Col. Martin O’Donnell, a spokesman for the U.S. Army in Europe and Africa, told Voice of America that all Ukrainian troops who trained with American troops on Abrams tanks in Germany have returned to Ukraine. According to a senior military officer, 31 tanks with ammunition and spare parts are already in the country.“We kept our end of the deal. From now on, they [the Ukrainians] must determine when and where…

A resident of the city of Vahdat, who complained about the way his brother was taken to the army and his grandmother was beaten, was accused of extremism. The video of Shahbaz Sharifbek’s protest made its way to social networks on October 15 of this year and caused many reactions. The users asked the authorities to find out what happened and to punish the perpetrators of mistreatment of the old woman. “Article 307” A source close to the disciplinary structures of the city of Vahdat, on condition of anonymity, told Radio Ozodi on November 1 that Shahboz Sharifbek was arrested in connection…