Appeal from activists to Rustam Emomali

Dozens of journalists, politicians, and civil society activists have urged the mayor of Dushanbe, Rustam Emomali, to take personal control of the cases of Daleri Imomali and Abdullo Gurbati.

Photo: Internet

On June 16, prominent journalist and civil society activist Rajabi Mirzo posted a statement in the Facebook group “Akhbor baroi afkor” (Information for Reflection), calling on human rights organizations and journalists to support this idea.

About 270 leaders of journalistic organizations, civil society organizations, journalists, political scientists, and civil society activists, as well as group users, signed the statement.

“This position of law enforcement agencies, which arises from their lack of evidence, tarnishes the image of the state and government of Tajikistan, particularly the city of Dushanbe, for the positive image of which you are striving,” the statement notes.

“We have received reports that Daleri Imomali is accused of tax evasion and evading responsibility, while Abdullo Gurbati is accused of ‘resisting a law enforcement officer.’ If this is the position of law enforcement agencies, we are convinced that both cases are not true,” the statement reads.

“We believe that these two individuals sincerely, diligently, and impartially carried out their professional mission and have proven that there are still ways to speak the truth within the country, and to express ‘truth’ it is not necessary to join extremist and opposition groups.”

“We do not want to say that these two journalists did not make mistakes. But the task of the state and its agencies, as you know, is not only to punish citizens. A good attitude, useful and important recommendations for the public will certainly benefit everyone,” the signatories of the statement noted.

Earlier, Radio Ozodi reported that journalists Daleri Imomali and Abdullo Gurbati were detained by law enforcement agencies and placed in a temporary detention facility.

A criminal case has been initiated against Daleri Imomali under Articles 259 part 1 (Illegal Entrepreneurship) and 346 part 2 (Knowingly False Report) of the Criminal Code of Tajikistan. Journalist Abdullo Gurbati has been charged under Article 328 part 1 “Use of Violence Against a Representative of Authority” of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Tajikistan.

Lawyer Abdurakhmon Sharipov reported that Daleri Imomali confirmed that he had received a small profit from a year of blogging activity and did not know that he was supposed to pay taxes on his activities.

The lawyer added that Abdullo Gurbati denied the charges against him during the interrogation and stated that he had no intention or goal to resist or conflict with a police officer.