Former Foreign Minister Hamrokhon Zarifi detained in Tajikistan

It was reported today, June 20, 2024, that on June 12, 2024, Hamrokhon Zarifi was detained by law enforcement agencies. According to one source, he was held in the temporary detention facility of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Tajikistan in Dushanbe until June 16, but this source does not have information on where he was transferred for further detention. There were also reports that the former foreign minister was released after questioning, but this fact has not been confirmed by anyone.

The 75-year-old Hamrokhon Zarifi is retired. According to sources from Radio Ozodi, they do not know the exact reason for his detention. A source in the law enforcement agencies of Tajikistan reported that “the detention and questioning are related to an economic crime that was committed during the construction of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs building while Zarifi was head of this agency.”

Hamrokhon Zarifi was detained on the same day as Saidjafar Usmonzoda, a member of the Tajik parliament, who was arrested on charges of “attempting to seize state power.”

The Tajik opposition links Zarifi’s detention to Usmonzoda’s case. There have been no comments from the authorities. Sources from Radio Ozodi say that Zarifi maintained contact with Saidjafar Usmonzoda, but they do not know for sure if his detention is related to the case of the former parliament member.

On June 14, the Attorney General of Tajikistan, Yusuf Rahmon, submitted a proposal to the parliament deputies to strip Usmonzoda of parliamentary immunity. All deputies present at the session unanimously approved the prosecutor’s request and consented to Usmonzoda’s arrest. Relatives of Usmonzoda, in a conversation with Radio Ozodi, called the charges against the former deputy of attempting to seize power “slander and stated that Usmonzoda never had such plans in mind.”

Hamrokhon Zarifi was born in 1948 in the Vose district in southern Tajikistan. He graduated from the physics and mathematics faculty of the Pedagogical Institute in Kulob, and began his professional career as a teacher at the same higher educational institution. From 1974 to 1993, he worked in the security agencies, and since 1993, he has been in the system of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

From 1995 to 1996, he served as Deputy Head of the Foreign Ministry, from 1996 to 2002, he was the Permanent Representative of Tajikistan to the OSCE and UN structures in Vienna, from 1997 to 2002, he simultaneously held the position of Ambassador of Tajikistan to Austria, Switzerland, and Hungary, and from 2002 to 2006, he worked as Ambassador of Tajikistan to the USA. From December 2006 to November 31, 2013, he served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Tajikistan.