Skip to main content

Eurasianet

Main Menu

  • Regions
  • Topics
  • Media
  • About
  • Search
  • Newsletter
  • русский
  • Support us
X

Caucasus

Armenia
Azerbaijan
Georgia

Central Asia

Kazakhstan
Kyrgyzstan
Tajikistan
Turkmenistan
Uzbekistan

Conflict Zones

Abkhazia
Nagorno Karabakh
South Ossetia
Transnistria

Eastern Europe

Belarus
Moldova
Russia
The Baltics
Ukraine

Eurasian Fringe

Afghanistan
China
EU
Iran
Mongolia
Turkey
United Kingdom
United States
X

Arts and Culture

Economy

Politics

Security

Society

Coronavirus
X

Visual Stories

Audio
Interactive
Video

Blogs

Tamada Tales
The Bug Pit

Podcasts

Expert Opinions
The Central Asianist
X
You can search using keywords to narrow down the list.
Tajikistan, Central Asia

Tajikistan: Dozens arrested in Muslim Brotherhood sweep

University lecturers and local officials are said to be among the dozens of detainees

Jan 6, 2020
President Emomali Rahmon, second left, reciting prayers with Tajik clerics and his son, Rustam Emomali, far right, in a picture posted online by the presidential administration press office on January 3. President Emomali Rahmon, second left, reciting prayers with Tajik clerics and his son, Rustam Emomali, far right, in a picture posted online by the presidential administration press office on January 3.

Authorities in Tajikistan have reportedly detained dozens of suspected members of the banned Muslim Brotherhood group.

RFE/RL’s Tajik service, Radio Ozodi, on January 6 reported that those taken into custody include university teachers and heads of local government. At least 27 have been detained in the sweep, which has taken place over the past week, Ozodi reported.

The Muslim Brotherhood, a politically engaged and conservative Islamic group founded in Egypt in the 1920s, was banned in Tajikistan in 2006.

According to the relatives of one suspect who spoke to Ozodi, security personnel confiscated religious literature during a search of their home.

Payom, a website with links to the exiled opposition, offered an even higher estimate for the number of people detained – somewhere between 100 and 250. It said around 20 of those people were university lecturers.

A government source confirmed to Eurasianet that there were teachers among those detained, but declined to provide more than a few specifics.

Among the detainees is a 60-year-old citizen of Egypt, Ali Mansur Bayumi, and his family, Eurasianet’s source said. Bayumi taught at the Middle Eastern studies department at the Tajik National University in Dushanbe.

The case is being handled by the General Prosecutor’s Office and has been classified as confidential.

Tajikistan is no stranger to waves of arrests on alleged grounds of religious extremism. These sweeps have often been pursued with the intent of muzzling anti-government elements.

In 2016, the State Committee for National Security, or GKNB, arrested 20 imams on suspicion of being members of the Muslim Brotherhood. Official statements noted at the time that the men had joined the organization while studying in the Middle East.

Authorities in Tajikistan are deeply suspicious of religious figures espousing anything other than closely vetted and vigorously pro-regime themes permitted by the government.  

It is the Islamic Renaissance Party of Tajikistan, or IRPT, that has mainly been on the receiving end of security sweeps. The party, which lost its only two seats in the March 2015 election, was declared an extremist organization later that same year, despite it explicitly rejecting ultra-orthodox rhetoric and direct political action, and was subsequently targeted with mass, nationwide arrests.

 

Sign up for Eurasianet's free weekly newsletter. Support Eurasianet: Help keep our journalism open to all, and influenced by none.

Related

Dashboard: Vaccinating Eurasia - April
Tajikistan: As Russia cracks open gate, rush for air tickets ensues
Kazakhstan: NGOs let off tax penalty hook

Popular

Twisting the screws: Post-War Report
Joshua Kucera
Dashboard: Vaccinating Eurasia - April
Tajikistan: As Russia cracks open gate, rush for air tickets ensues

Eurasianet

  • About
  • Team
  • Contribute
  • Republishing
  • Privacy Policy
  • Corrections
  • Contact
Eurasianet © 2021