Tag Archives: Tajikistan

IRPT are terrorists says Tajik court

SEPT. 29 2015, DUSHANBE (The Conway Bulletin) — Tajikistan’s High Court decreed the Islamic Renaissance Party of Tajikistan (IRPT) a terrorist organisation and banned it, wiping the only real opposition party from the country.

The high court statement published by the Khovar state news agency accused the IRPT of committing crimes of terrorist acts and spreading provocative materials.

Pressure on the IRPT has been building.

The General Prosecutor’s Office earlier accused the IRPT leadership of involvement in double attacks on police checkpoints last month that killed two dozen people. It said the mastermind of the attacks had been deputy defence minister Abduhalim Nazarzoda.

Police also detained Buzurgmehr Yorov, an IRPT lawyer, after he started defending 13 top party members arrested for the attacks. Mr Yorov has reportedly been charged with fraud and corruption crimes.

Earlier this year, the Tajik authorities also prosecuted Group 24, another political party that it deemed to be plotting against it.

An analyst who declined to be named said: “It is the sign of zero tolerance of any kind of political opposition, no matter whether they are religious or secular. Tajikistan has now become a one-party state.”

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 250, published on Oct. 2 2015)

Extremists claim to control Tajik border

SEPT. 29 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – The Islamic Jihad Union, an Al- Qaeda splinter group, said that it now controlled part of the border zone with Tajikistan and Afghanistan. This claim could not be independently verified but the media did say that the Islamic Jihad Union had reportedly released photos of armed men around the Amu Darya river on the border between Tajikistan and Afghanistan.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 250, published on Oct. 2 2015)

US sends kit to Tajik forces

SEPT. 23 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – The US embassy in Dushanbe donated tactical military equipment worth $260,000 to the Tajik special security forces (OMON) to use against drug traffickers in the south of the country, local media reported. The donation is controversial because Tajikistan has previously used its special forces against government opponents.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 249, published on Sept. 25 2015)

Visa signs Tajik deal

SEPT. 21 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — US-based Visa International and Tajikistan’s Central Bank signed an agreement to resolve a long-standing problem with payments and mutual settlements in the country. Media quoted Jamshed Nurmakhmadzoda, the Tajik Central Bank chairman, as saying: “Prior to this, Visa card holders could incur financial losses during the transactions.” The move is poised to increase the population’s confidence in cashless payment methods.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 249, published on Sept. 25 2015)

Auchan starts supplying food to Tajik capital store

DUSHANBE, SEPT. 17 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — French retail group Auchan said it will supply its new hypermarket in Tajikistan with Russian-produced goods from November after a successful test-run.

The Russian branch of Auchan had earlier signed an agreement with Schiever Group to open a 5,000 square metres store in Dushanbe.

From a warehouse in Novosibirsk, Russia will supply around 80% of the products for sale in Tajikistan’s new store, the company said.

The project, conceived in 2014, was co-financed through the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), which allocated $5m for the construction of Tajikistan’s first hypermarket. Through the deal, EBRD has become a stakeholder in Schiever Tajikistan.

Tajikistan is the third post-Soviet country, after Russia and Ukraine, to host an Auchan hypermarket. It also plans one in Armenia. Reliant on workers’ remittances, Tajikistan needs more foreign investment.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 249, published on Sept. 25 2015)

Tajikistan accuses IRPT of attacks

SEPT. 20 2015, DUSHANBE (The Conway Bulletin) — Tajik security forces detained 13 leaders from the Islamic Renaissance Party of Tajikistan (IRPT) and accused them of being linked to attacks this month that killed two dozen people.

Pressure has been mounting on the IRPT, the only real opposition party in Tajikistan, over the past few months. It’s leader, Muhiddin Kabiri, has fled into exile and the ministry of justice has said that the IRPT has to disband because it lacks members.

Now, the Tajik authorities have allegedly seized documents from IRPT office in Dushanbe that proves it was involved in attacks apparently lead by a disgruntled former deputy defence minister.

The IRPT denied links to attacks on two police stations on Sept. 4.

And on the streets of Dushanbe, this is view shared by some residents.

“I don’t think that IRPT are involved. The government is apparently getting rid of former Civil War opposition members,” a Dushanbe resident called Yahyo said.

A Dushanbe analyst agreed and said that Pre.s Rakhmon had used the attacks to get rid of opponents.

“Rakhmon will further centralise the regime with these lies being his main tool,” he said, anonymously.

The authorities also said they killed Gen. Abduhalim Nazarzoda, the ex-deputy defence minister blamed for organising the attacks (Sept. 19).

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 249, published on Sept. 25 2015)

Tajikistan boosts imports of LNG

SEPT. 21 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – To meet growing demand, Tajikistan has increased the volume of liquefied natural gas (LNG) it imported to 220,000 tonnes in the first eight months of the year, an increase of 18% over the same period last year. Tajikistan imports LNG from Kazakhstan. Over the past year, the proportion of LNG-fuelled vehicles on the road in Tajikistan has increased to 60% from 40%.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 249, published on Sept. 25 2015)

Tajikistan says ex-minister killed

SEPT. 16 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Tajikistan’s interior ministry said security forces had killed the fugitive former deputy defence minister Gen. Abduhalim Mirzo Nazarzoda after a manhunt spanning nearly a fortnight. The authorities in Tajikistan have accused Nazarzoda of masterminding two attacks on police stations in Dushanbe and a nearby town on Sept. 4 that killed two dozen people.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 248, published on Sept. 18 2015)

HRW warns on rights in Tajikistan

SEPT. 14 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – The Tajik government has presided over an “steady, unmistakable decline of freedom of expression”, Human Rights Watch said in a statement referring to the clampdown on the opposition Islamic Renaissance Party of Tajikistan (IRPT).

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 248, published on Sept. 18 2015)

GMEX-Group to build Tajik stock exchange

SEPT. 15 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – London-based GMEX-Group said it signed a deal to help build Tajikistan’s inaugural stock exchange. The Central Asia Stock Exchange (CASE), as it will be known, aims to launch trading of securities later this year and derivatives next year. GMEX supplies the technical know-how to produce pricing and trading data.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 248, published on Sept. 18 2015)