The Ministry of Internal Affairs of Tajikistan has initiated a new case against Izzat Amon

A new criminal case has been initiated against Izzat Amon, who was sentenced to nine years in prison. The Ministry of Internal Affairs of Tajikistan accuses him of fraud amounting to 10 thousand dollars.

Photo: Internet

According to Radio Ozodi, for large-scale fraud, he faces a penalty of a fine of 125,400 somoni or imprisonment for a term of 8 to 12 years. The criminal case was initiated based on a complaint from a resident of Bokhtar, Nurullo Vokhidov. Izzat Amon has been transferred from the colony to a pre-trial detention center.

Nurullo Vokhidov claims in a video posted on YouTube that Izzat Amon has still not returned the 10 thousand dollars to him. It is unknown when and under what circumstances this video was filmed.

The mother of human rights defender Ashurbi Kholov told Radio Ozodi that this case is fabricated, and she knows Nurullo Vokhidov well.

“In 2007, Nurullo was in a Mordovian colony with my other son. Izzat needed money to process documents and return to Tajikistan. Part of the amount – 10 thousand dollars was given by Vokhidov’s relatives. My son repaid the debt in 2010: a ‘Mercedes’ car worth 6 thousand dollars was given to Vokhidov’s relatives in Tajikistan, and 4 thousand dollars to his wife, who lives in Moscow and is Russian by nationality. The issue was resolved then,” the mother of the human rights defender reported.

The opinion of Vokhidov himself is currently unavailable to the media. It is unknown when a confrontation between them will take place.

Well-known defender of the rights of labor migrants in Russia and head of the Tajik Center in Moscow, Izzat Amon went missing in Russia on March 25, 2021. Later, Tajik authorities stated that Russia had deported the human rights defender. Earlier, a criminal case had been initiated against him in Tajikistan on charges of fraud, and he was detained immediately after landing at Dushanbe airport.

On October 19, the Dushanbe city court sentenced the human rights defender to nine years in prison. His relatives and friends told the media that they do not agree with all the accusations against Izzat Amon, but they paid the full amount for his release. Izzat Amon’s debt to the plaintiffs amounted to 1 million 90 thousand Russian rubles and 1,000 US dollars.

The detention of Izzat Amon in Tajikistan has provoked a negative reaction from labor migrants, civil society activists, and social media users, with many calling for his release, but the authorities stated that Izzat Amon was detained on charges of fraud based on citizens’ complaints.