The head of the Democratic Party, Saidjafar Usmonzoda, has been arrested

Saidjafara Usmonzoda is accused of colluding with the opposition and attempting to seize power in the country using his official position. However, opposition representatives deny all allegations.

According to the Khovar agency, at a recent meeting of the Majlisi Namoyandagon of the Majlisi Oli of Tajikistan, based on the proposal of the Attorney General, Saidjafara Usmonzoda was stripped of his immunity and arrested. The decision was made on June 14, but he was detained on June 12.

It is reported that the Attorney General’s Office has initiated a criminal case against Usmonzoda under paragraph “v” of part 2 of article 306 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Tajikistan (Violent seizure of power using official position). This article provides for punishment by imprisonment for a term of fifteen to twenty-five years or life imprisonment.

According to the Attorney General, in September 2021, Saidjafara Usmonzoda spoke on a mobile phone with the deputy leader of the National Alliance of Tajikistan, Sharofiddin Gadoev, and gave preliminary recommendations “regarding the usurpation of state power in the Republic of Tajikistan.”

The Attorney General claims that Sharofiddin Gadoev promised that to achieve this goal, the leader of the Islamic Revival Party of Tajikistan, Muhiddin Kabiri, would provide him with financial assistance and “provide more than three thousand fighters from the terrorist organization ‘Jamaat Ansarullah’ from outside the Republic of Tajikistan.”

Saidjafara Usmonzoda is also accused of allegedly recruiting his supporters from various social strata within the country and abroad, organizing groups, and assigning each of them specific tasks.

“According to a pre-planned scheme, they wanted to destabilize the socio-political situation in several regions of the country in the shortest possible time, seize buildings of law enforcement agencies and military structures, capture weapons, and violently overthrow the state power in the country,” claims Yusuf Rahmon.

It is reported that Saidjafara Usmonzoda fully admitted his guilt. However, the politician himself or his relatives are unavailable for comment.

The leader of the National Alliance of Tajikistan, Muhiddin Kabiri, denied all accusations from the Attorney General of Tajikistan in an interview with Azda TV on Friday.

“Naturally, the National Alliance of Tajikistan will implement its political programs in Tajikistan to change the government, alter the situation, and save the people, relying on its own forces from among the Tajik people and more serious national forces and circles.

But we will not rely on such parties and individuals as Usmonzoda, who himself was raised by the power structures of the authorities and was elected as a member of parliament with the assistance of the authorities; he could not even remain in his own party. How could the NATS rely on such individuals and cooperate with them on very serious issues, such as changing power?”

The leader of the National Alliance of Tajikistan (NAT) believes that the reason for the arrest of Usmonzoda is “internal conflicts within the power structures, primarily the transfer of power from father to son.”

Sharofiddin Gadoev, one of the leaders of NAT, also denied these accusations in a conversation with Azda TV.

“The claim that I allegedly promised money to Mr. Saidjafar Usmonzoda for usurping power is slander and a lie. Mr. Saidjafar Usmonzoda is primarily the brother-in-law of the head of the State National Security Committee of Tajikistan, Saymumin Yatimov, and I think their problems mainly arose due to the deterioration of relations between Tajikistan and Russia. Secondly, the reason for this lies in the internal conflicts of the regime,” Gadoev stated.

Gadoev stated that the main source of these accusations against Usmonzoda are internal conflicts between Saymumin Yatimov and the Attorney General Yusuf Rahmon and Shohrukh Saidzoda, that is, in general, conflicts between the team of Rustam Emomali and the team of Yatimov.

“By accusing Saidjafar Usmonzoda, they want to accuse Yatimov of usurping power in Tajikistan. Sooner or later, we will see changes in the State National Security Committee due to the internal problems of the regime; however, today they are slandering a representative of the opposition who is outside the country,” Gadoev said.

Gadoev also noted that this issue is related to the visit of an FSB general to Tajikistan and his negotiations with Usmonzoda in Tajikistan.

The Attorney General also claims that to commit this crime, Saidjafar Usmonzoda “requested $10 million from a representative of one of the foreign countries to attract influential people and organize rallies.”

Earlier, on May 11, at an extraordinary congress of the Democratic Party of Tajikistan, Saidjafar Usmonzoda was removed from the position of party chairman, and Shahboz Abror was elected in his place. Two days before the congress, Saidjafar Usmonzoda called the organizers of the congress an “interested group,” which “led by Shahboz Abror wants to hold an extraordinary congress of the Democratic Party of Tajikistan.” He stated that he does not recognize any decision of this congress and noted that Shahboz Abror was a member of the ruling People’s Democratic Party of Tajikistan until recently.

The Ministry of Justice of Tajikistan recognized the controversial congress of the Democratic Party as legitimate on May 31, and Shahboz Abror as the new leader of the democrats.

Saidjafar Usmonzoda, who still considers himself the legitimate chairman of the Democratic Party of the country, called on the Ministry of Justice to reconsider its decision.