Columbia Global Freedom of Expression: IRPT case

The report states that on 29 September 2015 the Supreme Court of Tajikistan, at the request of the Prosecutor General, classified the Islamic Renaissance Party of Tajikistan (IRPT) as a terrorist organization and banned the party along with its informational materials, including its official website and newspaper. The report states that in August 2015 the Tajik Justice Ministry had already ordered the IRPT to shut down its 58 regional branches, citing failure to meet membership quotas after it lost its two parliamentary seats in the March 2015 elections, which the OSCE/ODIHR found were not conducted “in an impartial manner.” The report states that the IRPT, founded in 1990 and counting over 40,000 supporters, had previously been the only officially recognized opposition party in post-Soviet Central Asia. The report states that the government alleged that the party had orchestrated an anti-government rebellion linked to ousted Deputy Defense Minister Abduhalim Nazarzoda, blamed for a deadly attack on a police station in Vahdat District, though the IRPT rejected Nazarzoda’s membership since Tajik law bars military personnel from political parties. The report states that the Supreme Court relied on the Law on Political Parties, Article 4, and reportedly only on evidence supplied by the Prosecutor General. The report states that the ruling was condemned by UN OHCHR and Human Rights Watch, which urged Tajikistan to lift the ban and stop persecuting IRPT members.