Authorities fine residents of the Faizabad district under fabricated pretexts

On January 10, law enforcement agencies fined the imam and muezzin of the central mosque of the Fayzabad district, known as the “Sari Mazor” mosque, 1000 somoni, and the parents of 14 children 480 somoni.

Photo: Internet

In a phone conversation, a resident of the village of Sarichashma (known as Sari Mazor Khoja Khotama) in the Fayzabad district told Azda TV that on January 10, before the evening prayer, law enforcement officers and district administration staff bought sweets at a store in the village and treated the children near the store, then asked them to go to the mosque and perform the evening prayer.

According to the source for Azda TV, after the children entered the mosque, the security forces and administration workers entered the mosque during the prayer and, under the pretext of violating the Tajikistan law “On the Responsibility of Parents for the Education and Upbringing of Children,” fined the mosque workers and the children’s parents.

As reported by this resident of the Fayzabad district, the officials who personally treated the children to sweets and asked them to pray in the mosque were the head of the department for regulating traditions and rituals of the Fayzabad district administration, Saifiddinov Shodmon, and the head of the youth affairs department, Khukmidin.

“The head of the youth affairs department and the head of the department for regulating traditions and rituals, in coordination with the district GKNB staff, detained the children after they entered the mosque. As a result, the imam and khatib of the mosque, Saidov Karamatullo, the imam of the five daily prayers, Ankoev Olikhimmat, muezzin Akhmedov Karamat, and an elderly mosque worker, Abdurazik, were fined 1000 somoni, while the parents of 14 children were fined 480 somoni,” the resident of the Fayzabad district reported.

After this incident, GKNB staff also visited the village school, where they pressured the school administration and teachers for not monitoring the students, as they went to the mosque. In response, the school teachers justified that the children went to the mosque during their free time from school and that the parents, not the school, were responsible for this.

The economic crisis, unemployment, high prices, and government corruption in Tajikistan have led law enforcement and administrative staff to remain without income, and to fill both their own pockets and the state budget, they are forced to come up with new ways and tricks to fine people.