RFE/RL: Tajikistan silences Hakimov — one of last voices of dissent (SDPT)

The report, published by RFE/RL’s Tajik Service on 24 July 2024, states that Tajik authorities detained Shokirjon Hakimov, deputy head of the Social Democratic Party of Tajikistan (SDPT), on 12 July 2024. According to the report, officials did not publicly announce or comment on the arrest, and Hakimov’s relatives have avoided speaking to media, raising fears that the family was warned against doing so. The report describes Hakimov, 58, as the last opposition politician in Tajikistan who openly criticised the government’s policies. According to the report, a source close to Tajik law enforcement told RFE/RL on condition of anonymity that Hakimov’s detention is linked to a criminal case against lawmaker Saidjafar Usmonzoda, former head of the Democratic Party of Tajikistan, who was detained in June 2024 for allegedly “seeking to overthrow the government”. The report states that Prosecutor-General Yusuf Rahmon told parliament that “Usmonzoda and others” had plotted to illegally seize the government, without naming the others; rumours cited in the report said former Foreign Minister Hamrohkhon Zarifi and former parliament chairman Akbarshoh Iskandarov were also detained in June on unknown charges. The report notes that the Islamic Renaissance Party and Group 24 had been banned as “terrorist” nearly a decade earlier and that the SDPT, though registered, has faced constant political and financial pressure. Analyst Aziz Nasrulloev and activist Farhod Khudoyorov are quoted warning that the arrest signals regime insecurity and will deepen self-censorship.