The Movement for Reforms and Development of Tajikistan strongly condemns the conviction in absentia by the Basmanny Court of Moscow against the chairman of our movement, Sharofiddin Gadoev, as an act of political repression. The sentencing to 8.5 years of imprisonment under the article concerning so-called “military fakes” is not only a clear act of political persecution but also part of a broader strategy aimed at spreading fear and neutralizing democratic resistance, coordinated by the regimes of Russia and Tajikistan.
The basis for the criminal prosecution was a speech delivered by Sharofiddin Gadoev in the Tajik language in 2022, during his visit to Ukraine, on the ISLOH TV channel, in which he directly condemned Russian aggression against Ukraine and the mass killings of civilians. The sentence handed down, as well as his designation as an “extremist,” lacks any legal foundation and constitutes a gross violation of the principles of freedom of expression. However, we view this not merely as an instrument of pressure, but as a preparatory stage for his physical elimination, legitimized through fictitious legal grounds.
According to credible information available to our movement, a delegation of Tajik security services was present in Moscow from 7 to 11 July 2025. One of the key topics of discussion with their Russian counterparts was the coordination of an operation to eliminate Sharofiddin Gadoev on European soil. In this context, the court ruling in Moscow serves as a cover for a potential act of transnational political terror.
Should this plan be implemented, responsibility would ostensibly fall on Russia, which is already subject to comprehensive sanctions by Western countries—thereby allowing Tajikistan to evade international accountability by acting through its strategic patron. A similar scenario occurred in 2019, when the security services of Tajikistan and Russia jointly organized the abduction of Sharofiddin Gadoev from Moscow.
The regime of Emomali Rahmon is de facto under external control by the Russian Federation and functions as a proxy structure of the Kremlin in Central Asia. For decades, Moscow has provided political and operational cover for the Tajik dictatorship—from the supply of repression technologies to involvement in abductions, torture, and assassinations of opposition members. Joint operations by the two regimes have resulted in the total destruction of civil society, the transformation of Tajikistan into a totalitarian state, and the suppression of all dissent. We regard the current government as an occupying, authoritarian, pro-Kremlin regime, and we are engaged in a consistent struggle to liberate the country from external control and to restore sovereignty, democracy, and national dignity.
Political Council of the Movement for Reforms and Development of Tajikistan
31 July 2025
Amsterdam
Link to the news article for reference: https://www.currenttime.tv/amp/tadzhikistanskogo-oppozitsionera-sharofiddin-gadoeva-v-rossii-prosyat-zaochno-prigovorit-k-8-5-godam-po-delu-o-feykah-ob-armii-/33487579.html
