RFERL: Tajik opposition Group 24 banned as extremist

The report states that on 9 October 2014 Tajikistan’s Supreme Court banned the opposition organisation Group 24 as “extremist” and prohibited its website and printed materials. According to the RFE/RL Tajik Service article, the decision followed growing government pressure on the group after it used the internet to call for street protests in the capital, Dushanbe, on 10 October. The report notes that Supreme Court judge Salomat Hakimova ruled that Group 24, led by fugitive Tajik businessman Umarali Quvatov, met the definition of an extremist organisation under Tajik law. It also states that media reports in Tajikistan linked Group 24’s online calls for an anti-government protest with the blockage of hundreds of websites including Facebook and YouTube, which had been inaccessible across the country since 5 October. Officials at the state Communications Service denied any involvement in the internet blockage. The article records the ban without reporting on any judicial appeal or public comment from the banned organisation, and situates it in the context of the Tajik authorities’ response to online opposition mobilisation ahead of the announced protest date.