Yusuf Rahmon met with representatives of INTERPOL in France

On September 18, 2023, the Attorney General of Tajikistan, Yusuf Rahmon, met in Lyon, France, with the Deputy Secretary General of the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol), Stephen Kavanagh.

According to the press service of the Attorney General’s Office, during the negotiations, Yusuf Rahmon discussed issues related to international wanted notices and the prevention of “terrorists” traveling across the borders of Interpol member states.

Currently, Interpol unites 195 countries, including Tajikistan.

During the meeting, issues related to the international search for criminals, the use of various Interpol databases in the search for specific categories of criminals and missing persons, Tajikistan’s online connection to Interpol databases, and other matters were also discussed.

According to the press service of the Attorney General’s Office, after this, separate meetings were held at the specialist level between the two sides regarding the inclusion in the Interpol database of individuals who have committed extremist-terrorist crimes and are wanted internationally.

According to official data, in 2021 alone, Tajikistan detained more than a hundred individuals who were wanted through Interpol.

In 2022, Tajik authorities announced the search for 3,140 individuals on various charges, including terrorism and extremism. However, only 39 wanted names can be found on the Interpol website.

International human rights organizations have repeatedly criticized Interpol for issuing wanted notices and detaining dissidents and critics of the governments of certain countries, including Tajikistan.

Previously, several activists of the Tajik opposition were detained abroad by Interpol, including in Europe, but after criticism from human rights organizations, they were released.

After that, Interpol removed the Tajik opposition activists from the wanted list.

Experts believe that the law enforcement agencies of Tajikistan, including the Attorney General’s Office led by Yusuf Rahmon, intend to achieve the detention and extradition of opposition activists abroad under the pretext of searching for “terrorists.” The Tajik government uses all means and methods, including pressuring their relatives, sending extradition requests, raising the issue of their detention in meetings with representatives of various countries, and so on.

Earlier, Tajik authorities sent an extradition request for one of the staunch critics of Emomali Rahmon – opposition figure Muhammadikboli Sadriddin.

The editor-in-chief of the portal Isloh.net, Muhammadikboli Sadriddin, told Azda TV that the Tajik prosecutor’s office accuses him of fraud and has sent a request for his extradition to the French authorities.

This Tajik opposition figure claims that the authorities of Tajikistan even hired hitmen to physically eliminate him, but they were unsuccessful. According to him, attempts by the Tajik authorities to accuse him of terrorism and extremism also failed, “so they brought new charges of ‘fraud’ and thus want to achieve their goals.”

The editor-in-chief of the portal Islоh.net added that the law enforcement agencies of Tajikistan, in order to suppress the voices of government critics, have imprisoned all activists and dissenters, including Zayd Saidov, Izzat Amon, and others on charges of fraud, as well as under Article 307 (terrorism and extremism), so that no one can expose “the crimes of this regime.”