The convicted human rights defender has been placed in a punishment cell again

He was punished for disrespecting the president.

Photo: Internet

According to the website of the “Buzurgmehr” foundation, a human rights organization in exile, the administration of the Vahdat prison has once again placed convicted lawyer Buzurgmehr Yurov in a punishment cell.

“The authorities of Tajikistan continue to exert pressure on political prisoners. Ahead of the celebration of the president’s day in Tajikistan, human rights defender Buzurgmehr Yurov was once again placed in a punishment cell for 15 days,” the statement notes.

According to the source, the reason for the punishment was that “he did not express respect for Emomali Rahmon as president and leader of the country in a timely and proper manner.”

Jamshed Yurov, chairman of the “Buzurgmehr” foundation and brother of the convicted Buzurgmehr Yurov, told Azda TV that on the eve of November 16, when Tajikistan celebrates “President’s Day,” a dispute arose between the prison administration and Buzurgmehr Yurov regarding Emomali Rahmon’s role in society and the development of the country. The administration did not like Yurov’s critical statements. Two other prisoners supported Buzurgmehr Yurov’s words, as a result of which they were also placed in a punishment cell.

Earlier, it was reported that at the end of September, the administration of Vahdat prison placed Buzurgmehr Yurov in a punishment cell for 10 days for not participating in the roll call.

At that time, the chairman of the “Buzurgmehr” foundation, Jamshed Yurov, told Azda TV that when his brother Buzurgmehr Yurov was in the prison library, “someone intentionally locked the library door from the outside so that he could not go out and participate in the roll call of prisoners.” Prison staff used this pretext to place Buzurgmehr Yurov in a punishment cell for 10 days.

Jamshed Yurov explained that the authorities punished his brother Buzurgmehr for the activities of the “Buzurgmehr” foundation, as well as for the participation of foundation staff in the OSCE Human Rights Conference in Warsaw.

According to the Tajik human rights defender, during the two weeks of the OSCE conference in Warsaw, two more political prisoners were placed in a punishment cell, but their names will not be disclosed until this information is confirmed.

Yurov stated that by punishing Buzurgmehr Yurov and other political prisoners, the authorities sent a signal to opposition groups and Tajik human rights defenders that “if our hands do not reach you, they will reach your relatives, and they will be punished instead of you.”

On September 28, 2015, well-known Tajik human rights defender and political prisoner Buzurgmehr Yurov was arrested after he took on the defense of members of the Islamic Revival Party of Tajikistan in court. He was charged with various offenses, including fraud, forgery of documents, and insulting the president. The court sentenced him to 28 years in prison. The human rights defender and his supporters rejected the charges and called the court’s verdict politically motivated.