#CFWI: Tajik prosecutors are seeking 25 years in prison sentence for Ulfatkhonim Mamadshoeva, a freelance journalist and human rights activist. Ulfatkhonim was arrested from her home, on May 18, by officers with the State Committee of National Security (SCNS). Ulfatkhonim is the ex-wife of retired Major General Kholbash Kholbashov, who is facing prosecutors' demands for a life sentence for his alleged role in organizing protests in the eastern Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region (GBAO). The exact charges had been pointed against Ulfatkhonim and another Journalist called Khushruz Jumayev, who was arrested nearly at the same time as his colleague.
The Coalition For Women In Journalism (CFWIJ) stands in solidarity with Ulfatkhonimk. We ask for the immediate release of Ulfatkhonim and other journalists and drop any charges against them; the Tajikistan authorities must stop prosecuting journalists.
On May 18, the SCNS officers arrested Ulfatkhonim from her home in the capital, Dushanbe; the national security officers also searched her home, and her ex-husband Kholbash Kholbashov was arrested on the same day, according to news reports. One day before the arresting the Interior Ministry of Tajikistan published a statement accusing Ulfatkhonim and two influential Pamiri figures of organizing an "illegal demonstration" in Khorog, but Ulfatkhonim told RFE/RL that day that she had nothing to do with the anti-government protests.
On May 19, officers with the Interior Ministry's Department for Combatting Organized Crime (DCOC) in Dushanbe arrested Khushruz Jumayev. He is an independent journalist who runs the culture and current affairs website Pomere.info with the nickname Khushom Gulyam. Ulfatkhonim collaborated with Jumayev on several local cultural, political, and media projects since they are Pamiri journalists. The Tajikistan authorities launched an "anti-terrorist operation" to suppress protests in Gorno-Badakhshan, home to many members of the Pamiri minority to which both journalists belong.
According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, the cases against both journalists were classified secret and made their lawyers sign nondisclosure agreements.
In a confession that may have been made under duress, Ulfatkhonim and her detained ex-husband appeared on Tajik state television on May 24. They admitted to organizing unrest in the Gorno-Badakhshan together with local leaders and opposition politicians. The film entitled “Failure of the Conspiracy” (“Shikasti Fitna”) was produced by a state-owned film company to show that an unspecified Western country was involved in organizing the unrest.
Then after about two months of detention, on July 15, a representative of the prosecutor general of Tajikistan announced that Ulfatkhonim faces charges of leading "part of a criminal group" in the eastern Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region, the region's capital.
On August 16, Tajik prosecutors asked to convict and sentence 25 years in prison for Ulfatkhonim and a life sentence for her ex-husband. In addition to the main charge against them, they face several charges of "publicly calling for violent change to Tajikistan's constitutional order, organizing a criminal group, murder, attempted murder, and terrorism". The trial began behind closed doors on August 3 for Ulfatkhonim and her ex-husband; it was held on the premises of the State Committee for National Security's detention centre in Dushanbe, according to sources close to law enforcement in Dushanbe told RFE/RL.
The Coalition For Women In Journalism (CFWIJ) stands in solidarity with Ulfatkhonim Mamadshoeva; We ask the Tajikistan authorities to immediately release and drop any charges against them, Jumayev and other journalists currently under arrest or investigation. CFWIJ condemns the harassment of journalists and opposition to silence critical voices. We call authorities to allow journalists to report freely.