Izat Amon is facing a sentence of 9 years in prison

The Prosecutor’s Office of Tajikistan has demanded that the human rights defender for migrants, Izzat Amon, be sentenced to nine years in prison on charges of “large-scale fraud.”

Photo: Internet

Earlier, the secretary of the court in Dushanbe reported that the court hearing in the case of Izzat Amon concluded on September 22, and the case against him was dismissed.

Relatives and friends of Izzat Amon told the media that they disagree with all the charges, but in order to secure his release, they have repaid the entire amount. Izzat Amon’s debt to the plaintiffs amounted to 1 million 90 thousand Russian rubles and 1,000 US dollars.

A source in the Dushanbe court reported on September 29 that the prosecutor Abdulmumin Kabirzoda’s demand was announced two days prior, after which the judge retired to the deliberation room. According to the source: “In order for the accused to fall under amnesty, he must go through this stage. The General Prosecutor’s Office has completed the investigation of the criminal case and is now demanding a verdict against the accused. The court will convict him, and only then will the law on amnesty be applied.”

The new amnesty law came into effect on September 10 of this year. Article 247 part 4 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Tajikistan “Large-scale fraud,” under which a case was initiated against Izzat Amon, is included in the amnesty law.

Izzat Amon, head of the Tajik Center in Moscow, went missing in Russia on March 25, 2021, but Tajik authorities later stated that Russia had deported the human rights defender. In Tajikistan, a criminal case had previously been initiated against him on charges of fraud, and he was detained immediately after landing at Dushanbe airport.

The detention of Izzat Amon in Tajikistan has provoked a negative reaction from labor migrants, civil society activists, and social media users, with many calling for his release, but authorities stated that Izzat Amon was detained on fraud charges based on citizens’ complaints.