The chairman of a farm in the Tajik district of Dosti was sentenced to five years in prison for “cooperating” with Islah TV, a website close to the government opposition, RFE/RL’s Tajik Service reported. The Khatlon Regional Court on January 4 handed down the sentence to 60-year-old Mahmudjon Bobomurodov after finding him guilty of watching
A 38-year-old social media user who accused Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev of supporting Russia’s war against Ukraine has been sentenced to 5 years and 1 month in prison, RFE/RL’s Uzbek Service reported. The Kattakurgan District Court in the Samarkand region of Uzbekistan handed down the sentence on January 4 to Bunyodjon Boboniyozov, for “insulting or
Kazakh television operator TVCOM says it has stopped broadcasting several stations launched by Russian state-run Channel One in a move to reduce the share of foreign news channels on the local market, RFE/RL’s Kazakh Service reported on January 4. TVCOM said the move was also due to the fact that its subscribers are “more media
The President of Tajikistan, Emomali Rahmon has issued the Decree “On declaring 2024 the Year of Legal Education”. The decree aims to increase the level of legal education of Tajikistan citizens, promote democratic values, strengthen the respect of human rights, ensure the rule of law, form a stable system of legal behavior and the inevitability
The trial of 14 people accused in the murder of Shohrat Ismattuloev, deputy chairman of Tajikistan’s Orienbank, has started. According to information obtained by RFE/RL’s Tajik Service, the trial is taking place in a temporary detention center behind closed doors. Ismattuloev’s body was found on August 15, two months after his abduction from Dushanbe. Security
Around 3,000 migrants were detained in St. Petersburg on New Year’s eve as part of a series of mass detentions across Russia, RFE/RL’s Russian Service reported on January 2 citing local media. The Fontanka news outlet said more than 100 of those arrested in St. Petersburg are going to be deported. The SOTA news website
Police in Germany on January 1 arrested another suspect in connection with a possible planned terrorist attack on Cologne Cathedral, saying it was a 41-year-old man with German and Turkish citizenship, RFE/RL reported. A total of five suspects have now been detained in connection with the terrorism alert. On Christmas Eve, a 30-year-old Tajik was
The Ministry of Transport of Uzbekistan announced the cancellation of restrictions imposed on the country’s transit vehicles in Afghanistan. The agreement was reached in a meeting between high-ranking officials of Afghanistan and Uzbekistan late in December, Afghan broadcaster TOLOnews reported. The Uzbek ministry said that the transportation authorities of both countries have determined the costs
Kazakhstan Foreign Ministry spokesman Aibek Smadiyarov said in a televised interview on December 29 that the Security Council of Kazakhstan had decided to remove the Taliban group now ruling Afghanistan from its registry of terrorist organizations. Smadiyarov said Astana will continue to adhere to United Nations decisions and resolutions regarding Afghanistan. Kazakhstan officially designated the
The Tajik government has recently transferred thousands of hectares of prime land to a private company that government opponents claim is controlled by a close relative of the authoritarian president, Emomali Rahmon, RFE/RL’s Tajik Service reported. RFE/RL’s Tajik Service obtained a copy of an official document signed by Rahmon on November 29 that grants temporary ownership of
