Tajik authorities have cut the electricity to the homes of several self-exiled opposition activists’ parents, their families said, amid renewed government pressure on its political opponents.
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When Tajik President Emomali Rahmon visited Germany last week, he was met by protests and a volley of eggs courtesy of the opposition-in-exile. Back in Tajikistan, the state machine has responded the only way it knows how by punishing the activists’ relatives.
Courts in Tajikistan have handed down long prison sentences to three independent journalists in recent days, while several others await sentencing on what watchdogs say are dubious charges. Media advocates say the sentences are part of a renewed crackdown on dissent.
At least 15 Tajik activists have disappeared in Russia in recent years, as Tajik officials hunt down their critics both at home and abroad. Some of them have reappeared in Tajik prisons, while the whereabouts of others remain unknown.