RFE/RL: Kabiri removed from Interpol Red Notice (IRPT)

The report, published by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty on 3 March 2018, states that on 2 March 2018 Muhiddin Kabiri, leader of the Islamic Renaissance Party of Tajikistan (IRPT), announced that Interpol had removed his name from its “Red Notice” wanted list. According to the report, IRPT spokesman Mahmudjon Faizrahmonov described the decision as a “setback for the Dushanbe government’s efforts to portray its opponents as militants and terrorists”. The report notes that the Tajik government banned the IRPT in September 2015 and declared it an extremist group. It states that after the March 2015 parliamentary elections, in which the IRPT lost its last two seats in votes it alleged were rigged, the party’s registration was revoked in June 2015 and authorities linked the party to an alleged rebellion by Deputy Defence Minister Abdulhalim Nazarzoda. According to the report, 14 senior party members who remained in Tajikistan were arrested and given lengthy prison terms, including two life sentences, following what HRW called “a flawed trial”. The report describes continuing concerns for IRPT member Namunjon Sharipov, who Human Rights Watch said faced “a real risk of torture” after being detained in Istanbul in February 2018 and put on a plane to Dushanbe, despite a phone statement claiming he had “voluntarily returned”. The report also cites researcher Edward Lemon on Interpol reforms and on authoritarian governments’ use of “diffusions” to target political exiles.