Tajik Opposition Candidate Accuses Police Of Interference

Oinihol Bobonazarova is Tajikistan's first female candidate for president.

DUSHANBE -- An opposition Tajik presidential candidate, Oinihol Bobonazarova, has accused the police of interfering in her campaign.

Talking to journalists in Dushanbe on September 27, Bobonazarova said 10 members of her election team -- nine of them women -- were detained by police in the city's Firdavsi district on September 26 while collecting signatures to support her candidacy.

The 10 were released shortly after, with no explanation given.

Bobonazarova, the country's first female presidential candidate, said the persecution of her supporters and election-team members hinders the completion of registration requirements by mid-October.

Incumbent Tajik President Emomali Rahmon, who has been the country's leader since 1992, is running for a fourth term in the November 6 poll.