A citizen of Tajikistan will be extradited from Poland

On June 10, the court in the city of Przemyśl in southeastern Poland ruled on the extradition of a 29-year-old citizen of Tajikistan.

Photo: Internet

As reported by human rights activist Anvar Derkach, head of the Ukrainian organization “Hand and Help,” the 29-year-old citizen of Tajikistan (his name is not disclosed for security reasons) is wanted by Tajik authorities on charges of membership in extremist groups ISIS and Al-Qaeda.

Anvar Derkach told Azda TV that he attended the court today, but the judge did not pay attention to his testimony and did not listen to the defense’s arguments.

The Ukrainian human rights activist stated that the organization “Hand and Help” defended the rights of the Tajik citizen in Ukraine, as he was previously detained by Ukrainian authorities at the request of Tajik authorities. The Ukrainian prosecutor’s office decided on his extradition; however, after an appeal to the European Court of Human Rights, the court prohibited the extradition of the Tajik citizen. Before the Russian invasion of Ukraine, he lived in Ukraine with his wife and two children.

The editorial team of Azda TV spoke with the mother of this Tajik citizen (for security reasons, we will refer to this mother by the pseudonym Sonia).

In a conversation with Azda TV, Sonia stated that her son, born in 1993, graduated with honors from Hadji Kamal College. In 2011, he enrolled in the St. Petersburg Chemical Pharmaceutical University, where he studied until 2014. Due to economic problems, he dropped out of university and went to Turkey. After the failed coup by supporters of Fethullah Gülen and the persecution of graduates of Gülenist schools, he was extradited to Ukraine, where he lived with his wife and children. His second child was born there.

His mother questions how, if the claims of the Tajik authorities are true and her son was a member of extremist groups, his wife could have given birth to a child during that time.

Sonia claims that she was raised in an educated family, studied at the Medical University of Dushanbe, graduated from medical college, and worked in international organizations such as Relief International and Save the Children. She believes that her son is innocent and that the charges against him are unfounded. The mother of the Tajik citizen urged the Polish government to conduct a fair trial so that her son would not be extradited to Tajikistan. She stated that in the event of extradition, he faces long imprisonment, torture, and even death.

Photo: Internet

Anvar Derkach, citing Petr Sura, the lawyer for the Tajik citizen, reported that the court in Przemyśl upheld the extradition decision and ignored the testimony of Anvar Derkach, as well as disregarded the decision of the European Court of Human Rights prohibiting the extradition of his client from Ukraine, based on the fact that all facts and decisions are related to the arrival of the convicted person in Ukraine, and the decision of this court was made based on new facts and evidence.

Human rights activist Anvar Derkach is concerned that the court ignored the worsening human rights situation in Tajikistan and the recent repressions in Badakhshan. “To prevent the extradition of the Tajik citizen, it is necessary to appeal to the European Court of Human Rights,” he believes.

This is not the first case where European countries have extradited citizens of Tajikistan. Previously, a court in Austria decided to extradite Khizbulla Shovalizoda, after which he was sentenced to 20 years in prison in Tajikistan.