Prominent politician Shokirjon Hakimov detained in Dushanbe

Tajikistan’s prosecutor’s office has arrested Shokirjon Hakimov, first deputy chairman of the Social Democratic Party of Tajikistan.

Sources told Azda TV that Shokirjon Hakimov, first deputy chairman of the Social Democratic Party of Tajikistan, was detained on July 12, 2024. The Dushanbe city prosecutor’s office summoned him for questioning on July 12, but the politician did not return home afterward.

No official body, including the prosecutor’s office, the police, or the State Committee for National Security, has yet commented on the detention of the party’s first deputy chairman. His lawyer and relatives could not be reached for comment.

Tajik opposition leaders condemned the detention of Professor Shokirjon Hakimov. They believe prosecutors may have arrested the deputy chairman of the Social Democratic Party of Tajikistan on allegations of cooperating with Saidjafar Usmonzoda, the former chairman of the Democratic Party of Tajikistan.

Professor Shokirjon Hakimov is a prominent Tajik scholar and civil society activist. Until his detention, he openly expressed his views on political developments in the country and regularly shared his independent opinions in the media and on social networks.

Shokirjon Hakimov is not the first leader of the Social Democratic Party of Tajikistan to be arrested in the past 10 years. Other party members, including prominent human rights lawyer Buzurgmehr Yorov and politician Makhmurod Odinaev, were previously detained and sentenced to long prison terms.