Izza Amona transferred from pre-trial detention center to colony

Well-known defender of Tajik migrant rights Izzat Amon, sentenced to 9 years in a penal colony in Tajikistan, has been transferred from the pre-trial detention center to a colony in the “1st Soviet” area. This was reported by Izzat Amon’s son Mahmadjusuf Kholov on December 9.

Photo: Internet

In a conversation with Radio Ozodi, representatives of the Ministry of Justice stated that Izzat Amon will be placed in quarantine for two weeks, after which he will be informed about the conditions and rules of conduct in the correctional colony.

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

The detention of Izzat Amon in Tajikistan sparked negative reactions from labor migrants, civil society activists, and social media users, many of whom called for his release, but authorities stated that Izzat Amon was detained on fraud charges based on citizens’ complaints.

It should be noted that on October 19, the Dushanbe city court sentenced Izzat Amon to 9 years in prison.

Izat Amon’s lawyer Saidburkhan Sharipov informed the media that his client had returned all the money to the plaintiffs and would be included in the list of those to be amnestied, but this did not happen.

Prior to the sentencing, Tajik human rights defenders believed that Izzat Amon would be released in accordance with the amnesty law.

Later, on November 16, the Supreme Court of Tajikistan reviewed the appeal from his relatives in the absence of Izzat Amon and upheld his sentence.