Радио Озоди: In Khorog, khalifa Muzaffar Davlatmirov sentenced to 5 years in a colony

Radio Ozodi / Azattyq Asia report by Mirzonabi Kholikzod (Мирзонаби Холикзод), published 4 August 2022, states that the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region court sentenced Muzaffar Davlatmirov (Музаффар Давлатмиров), khalifa of the Khorog (Хорог) microdistrict “Tirchid” (УПД), to five years in a colony for “public calls to engage in extremist activity” (“публичные призывы к осуществлению экстремистской деятельности”).

According to the article, family members said that Davlatmirov, aged 58, was invited on 26 July 2022 to the GBAO branch of the State Committee for National Security (GKNB / ГКНБ) for a conversation and was detained there. The GBAO court declined to comment. The article quotes a relative of Davlatmirov, who asked to remain unnamed, saying the court rushed an unjust conviction, that no evidence of guilt was presented at trial, and that nobody knows exactly what he is accused of; the relative states that in his sermons Davlatmirov called on residents to remain calm but had also criticised unlawful actions of the authorities, and that his reputation for justice was not welcomed by security structures.

The article explains that a khalifa (халифа) is a religious figure among Ismailis, to whom residents turn with various questions. A source did not rule out that the verdict is linked to Davlatmirov having performed the janaza-namaz (funeral prayer) for local informal leaders Mamadbokir Mamadbokirov (Мамадбокир Мамадбокиров), Zoir Rajabov (Зоир Раджабов) and Khursand Mazoriev (Хурсанд Мазориев), all killed during security-force operations in Khorog in May–June 2022.

Davlatmirov’s name, the article adds, appeared in a protocol signed by government security representatives and civil-society representatives for the comprehensive examination of the armed incident in Khorog on 21 May 2014. The article also notes that dozens died and more than 200 protesters were detained during the May 2022 events in Khorog and Rushan.