Tajik Blogger Imomali Goes On Trial On Charges Rights Groups Call Unfounded

Tajik blogger Daleri Imomali has gone on trial in Dushanbe on charges human rights organizations call unfounded.

Sources close to prosecutor's office in Dushanbe told RFE/RL on October 7 that The Shohmansur district court in the Tajik capital started the trial behind closed doors on that day.

Imomali is charged with illegal entrepreneurship, premeditated false denunciation, and cooperating with the banned Group 24 opposition movement, which was officially designated in the country as a terrorist organization in 2014.

In March 2015, the movement's founder, Umarali Quvatov, was assassinated in Istanbul, Turkey.

Imomali pleaded guilty to the illegal entrepreneurship charge, but rejected the other two. If convicted, Imomali faces more than 10 years in prison.

Known for his articles critical of the government, Imomali was detained along with noted journalist Abdullo Ghurbati on June 15 and sent to pretrial detention three days later.

Ghurbati was sentenced on October 4 to 7 1/2 years in prison on charges of publicly insulting an authority, minor assault of an authority, and participating in the activities of an extremist group. Ghurbati pleaded not guilty to all three charges.

Human Rights Watch and the Committee to Protect Journalists have demanded Tajik officials immediately release Imomali and Ghurbati.

Tajik President Emomali Rahmon has been criticized by international human rights groups for years over his disregard for independent media, religious freedoms, civil society, and political pluralism in the tightly controlled former Soviet republic.

https://www.rferl.org/a/tajikistan-blogger-imomali-trial/32070345.html