Sukhrob Zafar and Nasimjon Sharipov delivered to Dushanbe?

The news portal “Bomdod,” citing sources close to the law enforcement agencies of Tajikistan, reported that the leader of the political movement “Group 24,” Sukhrab Zafar, has already been delivered to Tajikistan.

It is reported that Sukhrab Zafar and one or two of his supporters were brought from Istanbul to Dushanbe last Friday, March 15, 2024, on a flight of the airline “Somon Air.”

 “On that day, the ‘Somon Air’ flight from Istanbul arrived in the evening. Immediately after the plane landed, a minibus with armed officers of the GKNB was brought to the ramp. First, Sukhrab Zafar and his associates were taken out, and only after that were the other passengers allowed to leave the aircraft. However, I cannot say for sure how many other people were brought along with Sukhrab Zafar. But he was definitely not alone,” the source told “Bomdod.”

The portal “Bomdod” also reports that on that day, the head of the GKNB of Tajikistan, General Saymumin Yatimov, personally arrived at the airport to pick up Sukhrab Zafar, as this was directly an operation of the GKNB and is considered a very successful operation of Tajik special services.

Official authorities in Turkey and Tajikistan have not yet commented on the disappearance of the opposition figures in Istanbul.

However, the portal Flightradar, which monitors all flights worldwide, reported that on March 15, 2024, at 17:27 Dushanbe time, a “Boeing 738” of the airline “Somon Air,” flying on route SZ104 (Istanbul – Dushanbe), landed at the airport of the capital of Tajikistan.

The political movement “Group 24” stated in a release on March 20 that it cannot confirm or deny the information about the extradition of the movement’s leader Sukhrab Zafar and the organization’s representative in Turkey, Nasimjon Sharipov, as “Group 24” has not been able to obtain any reliable information from official sources. At the same time, they have reason to believe that there may have been a deal between the Turkish and Tajik authorities.

The statement from “Group 24” notes that Nasimjon Sharipov went missing on February 23 of this year, but on March 15, his phone was activated for several hours and he read the messages sent to him, but did not respond. Since in the past this has happened with the phones of other missing dissidents when they had already been extradited to Tajikistan and their phones were activated after extradition, the leadership of “Group 24” does not rule out that they could have been delivered to Tajikistan.

“Group 24” notes that this is the first time that Sukhrab Zafar and Nasimjon Sharipov have mysteriously disappeared in Turkey. Previously, the Turkish authorities reported the detention of Tajik dissidents, as stated in the message.

“Another piece of evidence of the involvement of the Turkish and Tajik authorities is that cameras recorded a car with tinted windows approximately one meter from the place of Nasimjon’s disappearance, and the recording captures the voice of Sharipov resisting during the arrest. Therefore, it can be confidently said that Sharipov was kidnapped and taken away in that car,” the statement from “Group 24” says.

The organization’s statement also notes that Turkish lawyers, who previously collaborated with them in cases of the arrest of movement members, have taken on the case this time but later refused to continue without explanation. Currently, the organization has hired a foreign lawyer who has taken on the case of the missing movement members.

The statement also mentions that the disappearance of Tajik dissidents in Turkey may be directly related to the case of the disappearance of teachers from Turkish lyceums in Tajikistan, and that a new deal may have taken place between the authorities of Turkey and Tajikistan.

The leader of the political movement “Group 24,” Sukhrab Zafar, went missing on the morning of March 10 of this year, and his phone is also turned off. Activist and member of “Group 24,” Nasimjon Sharifov, also went missing on February 23, 2024. Their whereabouts are still unknown. Both went missing in Turkey — a country where the founder and leader of “Group 24,” Umarali Kuvvatov, was killed in 2015.

Activists and members of the political movement “Group 24” organized protests in front of the consulates and embassies of Turkey in Germany, Austria, the Netherlands, and France.