On March 25, Izzat Amon, a well-known human rights activist and head of the Tajik Center, was detained by the Russian police and deprived of Russian citizenship by a decision of the Tver District Court of Moscow. On March 27, the Russian authorities deported him to Tajikistan. Upon arrival in Dushanbe, Izzat Amon was detained by law enforcement officers on charges of fraud.
This is not the first time that human rights defenders and political activists are illegally detained in Russia and extradited to Tajikistan by law enforcement agencies or security officials. So on September 1, 2020, bypassing the norms of international law, Shobuddin Badalov, an active member of the political movement «Group-24» ducted by security forces in the Russian city of Nizhny Novgorod. On September 20, two other participants in the movement, Kholov Fakhriddin Zievich and Kamarov Nizomiddin Isomiddinovich, were detained at a roadblock on the Russian-Estonian border and extradited to Tajikistan.
In both cases, the Russian authorities illegally deported them to Tajikistan, despite the fact that the European Court of Human Rights banned the extradition of a member of the political movement «Group-24», Holov Fakhriddin.
In 2014, another member of the movement, Maksud Ibrahimov, was illegally deprived of Russian citizenship and extradited to Tajikistan, where he was sentenced to 17 years in prison. The fate of several mysteriously disappeared activists in Russia remains unclear.
Karomat Sharipov, a human rights defender and critic of the Tajik government in Russia, was also illegally deprived of Russian citizenship and deported to Tajikistan.
And now Izzat Amon has become another victim of the conspiracy of the Russian authorities and the despotic regime of Rakhmonov.
Recent events have once again convinced that Russia is an unsafe country for the Tajik opposition. And even having the citizenship of the Russian Federation, it can be lost at any time and be given to the reprisal of the dictatorial regime of Tajikistan.
The political movement «Group-24» strongly condemns these illegal, inhuman and criminal actions by the Russian and Tajik authorities and calls on international human rights organizations, democratic forces and the entire international community to assess the repressive actions of the Russian and Tajik governments.
We demand the immediate release of Izzat Amon, a migrant rights activist.
The Political movement «Group-24»
