Настоящее Время: Группа 24 приговоры Зафар 30 лет Шарифов 20 лет

Nastoyashchee Vremya (Current Time) article dated 18 October 2024 reporting on the closed-court sentencing of opposition movement “Group 24” leader Сухроб Зафар (Sukhrob Zafar) to 30 years and his associate Насимджон Шарифов (Nasimjon Sharifov) to 20 years of imprisonment. The article reports that authorities did not comment on the case and that Group 24 representatives previously said the pair were charged with “calls to violent change of the constitutional order using the internet” (Article 307 of the Criminal Code), which carries a maximum of 8 years, suggesting an additional charge of organising a criminal community was likely added. The article reports that Group 24 was founded in 2012 in Moscow by businessman and opposition figure Умарали Кувватов (Umarali Kuvvatov), who was killed in January 2015 in Istanbul. Tajikistan’s Supreme Court declared Group 24 extremist in 2014. The article reports other convictions tied to Group 24: Сулаймон Джобиров (Sulaymon Jobirov) — 6 years; Билол Курбоналиев (Bilol Kurbonaliev) — 10 years. Zafar had lived in Turkey since 2014; Sharifov since 2015. Sharifov disappeared in February 2024; Zafar in March 2024. Tajik Prosecutor General Юсуф Рахмон (Yusuf Rahmon) later confirmed they had been brought to Dushanbe. The article quotes Мухаммадсобир Абдукаххор (Mukhammadsobir Abdukakhkhor), head of Group 24’s executive committee, who said the sentences are political and that persecution of the movement intensified after activists threw eggs at President Эмомали Рахмон’s (Emomali Rahmon) motorcade in Berlin, after which, according to Abdukakhkhor, Rahmon held a special meeting ordering Group 24’s liquidation and the return of its leaders to Tajikistan. The article also references the Tajik conviction of “Абу Довуд” (Abu Dovud), described by authorities as an ISIS fighter, to 21 years, and the case of ex-Tajik Air head Рустам Холиков (Rustam Kholikov). Sources cited in the article include Current Time’s own interview with Abdukakhkhor and statements by Group 24.