Family Members Of Jailed Tajik Opposition Politician Missing

The wife and son of a jailed Tajik opposition politician have gone missing, according to relatives.

Muhammadali Hayit's relatives told RFE/RL on August 23 that a day earlier several men in civilian clothes took the politician's wife, Savriniso Juraeva, and their 17-year-old son Firuz from their home in Dushanbe.

The whereabouts of the two are unknown.

The relatives said that officials at the State Committee for National Security promised to keep them informed but have so far refused to provide any information about their whereabouts.

Hiyat, the deputy chairman of the banned opposition Islamic Renaissance Party of Tajikistan (IRPT), and another party deputy, Saidumar Husaini, were sentenced to life in prison in June.

A court in Dushanbe found them and several other members of the party guilty of conspiring with former Defense Minister Abduhalim Nazarzoda in a supposed armed bid to seize power in September 2015.

The IRPT leader, Muhiddin Kabiri, who now lives in exile, rejected the accusations.