HRW: Shamsiddin jailed after deportation from Germany

Human Rights Watch commentary by Hugh Williamson, Director of the Europe and Central Asia Division, published 30 January 2024 (originally in the German daily taz). The document reports that Abdullohi Shamsiddin, 33, a political activist connected to the Islamic Renaissance Party of Tajikistan (IRPT), was deported from Germany to Tajikistan on 18 January 2023 and detained on arrival by the security services. Two months later he was convicted of attempting to overthrow the constitution and sentenced to seven years. The report states the trial was unfair and that no evidence was presented meeting the standard of proof. The article records that Shamsiddin’s father is a senior IRPT member and refugee in Germany, and that his wife, a Tajik citizen, has refugee status in the European Union. HRW documents that Shamsiddin was held in a darkened isolation cell for over two months, lost weight and was denied medical care; during a German embassy visit eight prison guards were present. President Emomali Rahmon has been in power since 1992; the IRPT and Group 24 were banned in 2015. In November 2023 Bilal Qurbaniev, another Tajik opposition activist, was also deported from Germany. The Bundestag is cited as having expanded police deportation powers; the European Parliament is cited as expressing concern over “state repression against independent media.” HRW references its own 2016 findings on Dushanbe’s strategy of pursuing exiled opponents.