Two officials detained for land plot fraud

Law enforcement agencies in Tajikistan have detained two high-ranking officials in the city of Isfara on suspicion of receiving bribes.

Sources from Radio Ozodi reported on September 24 that the head of the Land Resources Management Committee of Isfara, Makhina Juraeva, and the chief architect of the city, Zoir Khasanov, were detained on September 18.

A source in law enforcement told the publication that both officials were detained by prosecutors on suspicion of the illegal sale of land plots. They are currently in a temporary detention facility.

Law enforcement agencies did not provide details about the case. Neither the detainees nor their relatives or lawyers have publicly commented on the report.

Makhina Juraeva replaced Mukhammad Bobozoda as head of the Land Resources Management Committee of Isfara District in January of this year. Bobozoda was also detained in a case involving violations in the distribution of land plots and was sentenced to 14 years in prison. The court found him guilty of abuse of power, receiving bribes, forgery, and illegal distribution of land plots. In this case, two former employees of the property registration enterprise in Isfara, Murod Ashurov and Laili Valieva, were also convicted and sentenced to prison terms ranging from five and a half to six and a half years.

The issue of violations in the distribution of land plots is considered a pressing problem in Tajikistan. Authorities also acknowledge that the illegal sale of land plots and other violations in this area remain a serious issue.

According to official data, approximately 13,500 cases of non-compliance with land legislation were identified in Tajikistan in 2025 alone. The regions with the highest number of such violations included Rudaki District, the cities of Isfara and Kulob.

Despite regular detentions of officials for illegal distribution and use of land plots, the problem remains unresolved. The press service of the President of Tajikistan also previously reported that Emomali Rahmon instructed prosecutors to intensify the fight against crimes in this area and violations, including illegal land sales.

However, information about thousands of violations in land distribution indicates that the problem is still not resolved.

Expert Sorbon Azimi writes that seeking the root cause of ongoing illegal land sales in Tajikistan solely in the actions of individual employees of land committees or local administrations is incorrect. He believes that when various officials are regularly detained for violations related to land plots, yet the problem persists, it may indicate deeper roots of the issue in land management and corruption.

According to Azimi, the sale of land plots in the country has become a systemic problem, and punishing individual officials will not eliminate it. He also points to cases where officials are reinstated in their positions after being removed, noting that such cases undermine trust in the effectiveness of the fight against corruption.

He stated that as long as the mechanisms for land distribution and control, as well as the accountability of competent officials, do not change radically, the detention of individual employees of land committees or other local officials will not be able to fully resolve the issue of land plot sales.