Радио Озоди: Tajik activist sentenced to 6 years for "calls to extremism"

Radio Ozodi / Azattyq Asia report by Mirzonabi Kholikzod (Мирзонаби Холикзод), published 28 July 2022, reports that the court of the Sino district of Dushanbe sentenced a social-media activist to six years’ imprisonment on charges of “calls to extremism via the Internet” (“призывы к экстремизму через Интернет”).

The article names the defendant as 35-year-old Shodruz Ahrorov (Шодруз Ахроров), who ran a YouTube channel under the handle “Abdullo” (“Абдулло”). The article states Ahrorov was deported from Russia in March 2022 for violating rules of stay and was detained by police at his home in Dushanbe four days later. On his channel he covered problems faced by migrants and criticised government policy in this area.

The Sino district prosecutor’s office and court did not comment, the article states. Ahrorov’s wife Jonona Tabarova (Джонона Табарова), described as holding a third-category disability status, told Radio Ozodi the trial was open but her husband was not provided with a defence lawyer. The prosecutor had sought seven years; the court reduced the sentence by one year, the article reports, taking into account that Ahrorov has a wife and a disabled child. Before deportation from Russia Ahrorov reportedly wrote asking Russian authorities not to deport him to Tajikistan, saying he expected to be arrested on return as a civil-society activist. Tabarova told Radio Ozodi she is struggling to support three small children and is pessimistic about appeal.

The article references other deportation-and-prosecution cases: Izzat Amon (Иззат Амон), head of the “Centre of Tajiks” in Russia, deported in 2021 and given 15 years for fraud; athlete Chorshanbe Chorshanbiev (Чоршанбе Чоршанбиев), critic of government actions in GBAO, deported and given 8.5 years for “public calls to violent change of the constitutional order via the Internet”; and GBAO-origin Amriddin Alovatshoev (Амриддин Аловатшоев), given 18 years after deportation from Russia.