On 26 November 2025 at 14:30, the Moscow City Court will consider my appeal in the case in which I was sentenced to eight years and six months’ imprisonment — for supporting Ukraine, for my anti-war statements, and for publicly declaring, as a Tajik, that we no longer wish to be a colony of Russia.
This statement sets out my legal and moral position in connection with the review of that appeal.
It contains an international-law assessment of the judgment rendered against me and a qualification of the actions of the Russian Federation as those of an aggressor state that has forfeited its international legal authority in the sphere of justice.
This is not a court but part of Putin’s fascist machinery, where law has been supplanted by fear and judges have become the obedient servants of a dictator.
The Russian judicial system has degenerated into a branch of the FSB — an instrument of political terror and war propaganda.
A court operating under the control of an international criminal and terrorist, Vladimir Putin, possesses neither the moral nor the legal authority to issue decisions in the name of justice.
Its verdicts are null and void because they emanate from an aggressor state whose leadership has been indicted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes and the deportation of children.
Pursuant to Articles 1 and 2 of the UN Charter and the principles established by the Nuremberg Tribunal, a power that commits acts of aggression and mass atrocities forfeits the right to administer justice.
A court acting in the interests of a criminal regime is not an organ of law but a component of a criminal enterprise.
Putin is the Hitler of the twenty-first century.
He has revived the cult of an “exceptional nation,” justifies killings “for the glory of the people,” and occupies neighbouring countries under the pretext of “historical justice.”
Just as Hitler built the “Great Reich,” Putin is constructing the “Russian World” — with analogous concentration camps, bombardments, and propaganda of hatred.
While proclaiming “denazification,” he has in fact transformed Russia into a quasi-Nazi state characterised by a cult of personality and militaristic hysteria.
The path of his regime is drenched in blood — from the annexation of Crimea and the seizure of Donbas to the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
All of these acts constitute aggression condemned by the international community.
The Russian armed forces, security services, and the Wagner Group bear responsibility for killings, torture, deportations, and acts that amount to genocide.
Hundreds of cities have been destroyed, and millions of Ukrainians have become refugees.
When a Russian Buk missile downed Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17, killing 298 people, the world understood that this was not the action of a lawful state but of a terrorist organisation.
The tribunal in The Hague found that the weapon originated in Russia and that the perpetrators acted under Kremlin control.
This constituted a deliberate act of murder and symbolised the criminal nature of Putin’s regime.
Russia bears responsibility for aggression beyond Ukraine.
It invaded Georgia, destabilises Moldova, and supports authoritarian regimes in Central Asia.
The Kremlin has established a network of dependent regimes — including in Tajikistan and across Central Asia — where power rests on fear, torture, and the suppression of civil society.
Russia has effectively colonised our countries through intelligence operations, military presence, and coercion, training local dictators in the techniques of repression.
Russian intelligence services are intentionally destroying civil society and consolidating a pro-Russian authoritarian regime in Tajikistan.
In cooperation with Tajik security forces, they have created a transnational punitive apparatus.
I possess reliable information concerning plans for my physical liquidation; in 2019 I was abducted and handed over to the Tajik regime — and there are dozens of comparable cases.
The Putin regime is a modern Third Reich — only equipped with nuclear missiles and television instead of swastikas.
It reduces Tajiks, Uzbeks, Kyrgyz, and Kazakhs to a voiceless labour force deprived of rights and dignity.
We, the peoples of Central Asia, must say: enough.
We refuse to be the slaves of an empire whose aircraft shoot down civilians and whose soldiers rape women and burn children alive.
Russia is not an ally; it is a source of terror, blood, and poverty.
Our choice is truth, freedom, and solidarity with Ukraine, which today defends the honour and independence of all nations — including ours.
The freedom of Ukraine is the freedom of Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Georgia, and even Russia itself.
When Putin’s empire collapses, so too will the dictatorships it has established.
Our nations will again be free, and the Moscow boot will no longer trample our soil.
Putin’s path ends in The Hague.
The path of our peoples leads to freedom.
Sharofiddin Gadoev
Chairman, Movement for Reforms and Development of Tajikistan
Amsterdam, 10 November 2025
The full text of my written explanations, submitted to the Moscow City Court (Appellate Instance) in the case scheduled for hearing on 26 November 2025 at 14:30, is contained in the attached 10-page PDF in both Russian and English, filed with the court on 7 November 2025.
