The well-known Tajik blogger and MMA fighter Chorshanbe Chorshanbiev, who was sentenced to 8.5 years in prison in May for publicly calling for the overthrow of the government, was transferred from Khujand to Dushanbe for unknown reasons.
After the sentence of Chorshanbiev entered into force, he was taken to serve his sentence in a strict regime colony 3/3 in Khujand, but the other day he was transferred back to the pre-trial detention center in Dushanbe. The decision wasn’t explained to the relatives. They are sure that now they will not be able to see him and send him parcels.
On May 13, the trial against the blogger, that began quickly, ended with the announcement of the sentence – 8.5 years in prison. The state prosecutor demanded 10 years in prison for him.
Chorshanbiev was found guilty of publicly calling for a violent change in the constitutional order in Tajikistan.
The court, which was supposed to be held in an open format, was actually “closed” to journalists and the public and took place in the building of the pre-trial detention center. Even the relatives of the defendant were not allowed to hear the verdict, and the lawyers were able to enter the hall only when the judge read out the verdict.
Chorshanbiev lived in Russia in recent years and competed in professional mixed martial arts. Due to traffic violations, he was fined and deported from Russia on the night of December 30, 2021. In Dushanbe, he was detained right at the gangway of the plane. The reason for the detention of Chorshanbiev was his video message on social networks in connection with the protests in Khorog on November 25, which occurred due to the murder of 29-year-old Gulbiddin Ziyobekov during the operation of the security forces. “I am not a politician. I am not an oppositionist. I am a person who observes injustice and doesn’t turn a blind eye to it. I want to appeal to the whole world, but mainly to the people of Tajikistan. How long are we going to endure this? How long will we ignore what is happening around? I call to rise up against injustice and the unjust death of innocent people,” he said in his video message.
The criminal case against Ch. Chorshanbiev was initiated on December 30, 2021. The next day he was deported from Russia to Dushanbe, where he was detained. On January 27, 2022, the investigator announced the end of the investigation and the transfer of his case to the court.
Source: Acca Media
