The move, ahead of commemorations of the 75th anniversary of victory in World War II, comes after similar decisions in the Russian-backed breakaway areas of Eastern Ukraine.
The legislation allows authorities to freeze property acquired with suspicious funds. Now they want access to bank and insurance information without a court order.
Some hard talk from the Russian foreign minister has led to recriminations in Yerevan and the prospect of Azerbaijan’s foreign minister getting sacked.
At least 16 opposition activists have been arrested since the outbreak began, and human rights groups accuse the government of taking advantage of the pandemic.
An SMS system to regulate residents’ trips outside the home seems to be working smoothly, but there are still thousands of violations of the regime every day.
While the government seems to concede the inevitability of the incipient downturn, it is still clinging to rosy economic performance figures. This and more in our weekly Turkmenistan briefing.
Critics are exasperated by the government’s passivity, warning that the reforms needed for Tajikistan to weather this moment should have been adopted “the day before yesterday.”
