Tajik authorities nationalized the private property of an opposition member

A representative of the Tajik opposition in Europe accused the government of the Zafarabad district in the Sughd region of “unjustified” and “forced” seizure of his land plot, calling it a politically motivated decision.

Salim Sultonzoada (Salim Isoboev), spokesperson for the National Alliance, which unites four opposition groups, stated that he received this land plot for the construction of a residential house in 2008 by decision of the local authorities.

The head of the Zafarabad district, Zufar Ismoilzoda, confirmed in his letter to the district court that this land plot was indeed allocated to Salim Sultonzoada (Isoboev) 16 years ago, but according to him, “since an unknown person built a house on this plot,” the land was seized and transferred to the state. A copy of the letter was received by Radio Ozodi on May 23.

Sultonzoada (Isoboev) told Radio Ozodi that the “unknown person” is his brother Khalim Isoboev. “Before moving to Europe, I lived in my parents’ house. On the land allocated to me, we built a house for my brother, and he lived there with his wife and children for the last 14 years. Now the district government considers its decision to allocate the land illegal and intends to forcibly seize the plot,” he explained.

According to the interlocutor, when he was still in Tajikistan, a foundation for the house was raised on this plot, and he gifted this plot to his brother without legal formalization. “Now the government says there is no document. But even if such a document existed, when they annulled the first decision, they would have also removed the gift agreement in the same way. I believe this is not a legally justified decision, but a politically motivated one. This is pressure to make me abandon political activity. It is undertaken to intimidate other opposition members and critics,” said Salim Sultonzoada (Isoboev).

The head of the Zafarabad district, Zufar Ismoilzoda, stated in his letter to the court that the decision to allocate land to Salim Isoboev was annulled in May of this year due to its illegality. He demanded that Khalim Isoboev, Salim Sultonzoada’s brother, vacate the territory along with his wife and two children, but no alternative housing would be provided to them. The district head accused this family of “illegal land seizure.” “The defendants were warned several times by the Zafarabad district government to vacate the premises, but they ignored our demands, so we were forced to go to court,” he wrote.

Salim Sultonzoada (Isoboev), who received asylum in France, constantly criticizes the authorities of Tajikistan on social media, particularly the government of the Zafarabad district. The human rights organization Freedom For Eurasia issued a statement on May 22, criticizing the Tajik government for transnational repression of the opposition and the seizure of their property within the country, using the case of Salim Sultonzoada (Isoboev) as an example.

In its statement, this organization also mentioned the issue with human rights defender and political activist Bakhtiyor Safarov and opposition representative Farhod Odinaev, stating that both face the threat of property confiscation in Tajikistan. Human rights defenders urged democratic governments to hold the Tajikistan government accountable for human rights violations and gross disregard for the law over the past few decades.