Eurasianet: Opposition activist state-ordered kidnapping details

The report states that Tajik opposition activist Sharofiddin Gadoev provided details of what he described as a state-ordered kidnapping in February 2019, when he was detained in Moscow and forcibly flown back to Tajikistan. The report states that Gadoev, a member of the Europe-based National Alliance of Tajikistan and of Group 24, a movement banned as extremist by the Tajik authorities, had travelled to Moscow on the understanding that he would meet Russian officials. The report states that, according to Gadoev’s account, he was instead seized by Tajik security officers, restrained, driven to an airport and put on a flight to Dushanbe, where he was held incommunicado and pressured to renounce opposition activity and record propaganda statements on camera. The report states that Gadoev was released approximately two weeks later after sustained international pressure, including from Amnesty International, the Netherlands (where he held residency) and European governments, and flown back to Europe on 2 March 2019. The report states that his testimony points to close cooperation between Russian and Tajik security services in the forcible transfer of opposition figures from Russian territory. The report states that the case is frequently cited as evidence of transnational repression targeting Tajik political exiles and the limited safety of opposition activists living in Russia, including those with international protection status.