Asia-Plus: Supreme Court — sentences for 'likes' and reposts may be reviewed

Asia-Plus reported (article dated 7 August 2025) that at a press conference that day, the chair of Tajikistan’s Supreme Court, Rustam Mirzozoda (Рустам Мирзозода), stated that current Tajik legislation allows for the review of cases related to “likes” and other digital reactions on social media. According to the article, he said that in most social-media cases the accused are also charged under other articles, for which the law does not allow review or softening of punishment; however, where the sentence was based solely on “likes and reposts”, courts are ready to review it. The article states that, per the chair of the Supreme Court, no such applications had been received and no verdict had yet been reviewed. The article quotes lawyer Navruz Odinaev (Навруз Одинаев), founder of the “Himoya” firm, as confirming that the Tajik Criminal Code permits retroactive application when a new law mitigates or decriminalises conduct. The article explains how the “likes article” came about: in 2018, Article 179 of the Criminal Code (“public calls for terrorist crimes”) was amended to include “on the internet”, and Article 307 (“public calls for extremism”) was also applied; punishments ranged from 3 to 15 years. The article reports that in October 2024 President Emomali Rahmon publicly criticised the practice of prosecuting citizens for “likes” and reposts as excessive and mistaken. On 14 May 2025 he signed a law “On Amendments to the Criminal Code” removing criminal liability for “likes” and reactions on social media. According to the article, in 2024 Deputy Prosecutor General Umed Karimzoda (Умед Каримзода) reported that more than 1,500 people were serving sentences for “likes” and comments deemed extremist. The article quotes lawyer Ranjet Yatimov (Ранжет Ятимов), who offered three possible reasons for the president’s criticism: protecting the country’s international reputation on rights, responding to public discontent, and addressing inconsistent application of the law. Sources cited: Rustam Mirzozoda’s press conference, Navruz Odinaev, Umed Karimzoda, Ranjet Yatimov.