The office of the Prosecutor General of Tajikistan launched a new criminal investigation against Buzurgmehr Yorov, a lawyer currently imprisoned for 23 years. Khosiyat Yorova, the imprisoned lawyer’s sister, told Fergana that the new investigation is launched based on Article 330 (Insulting public authority) and Article 355 (Contempt of court) in the Crime Code. According to Ms. Yorova, the new investigation was launched after a verbal quarrel erupted between her brother and state prosecutor Rustam Takdirzoda during a hearing when Mr. Yorov was delivering his final speech.

Background: Buzurgmehr Yorov was arrested 28 Sep 2015 based on charges of fraud and document forgery. Mr. Yorov was arrested several days after he started legally defending members of the now outlawed Islamic Renaissance Party of Tajikistan and assumed the leadership of the Public Committee for Prevention of Illegal Arrests, Searches and Convictions. Mr. Yorov was defending seven arrested IRPT members at the time of his arrest.

Lawyer Nuriddin Mahkamov was arrested several days later. Messrs Yorov and Mahkamov were both members of the Sipar lawyers association. Before being arrested, Mr. Mahkamov was planning to defend the interests of his arrested colleague, but was not authorized to do so. The two arrested lawyers were charged with extremism, urges to violently overthrow the constitutional order and inciting ethnic, racial and religious animosity.

Dushanbe City Court convicted Mr. Yorov to 23 years of imprisonment and Mr. Mahkamov to 21 years of imprisonment in high-security prison. Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch (HRW), the Helsinki Committee of Norway, the Human Rights in Central Asia Association as well as the US government and the UN Office for Human Rights in Central Asia have voiced their concerns regarding unjust verdicts. All of these entities write the lawyers were punished for their professional activities.

Fergana international information agency.