The arrest of the judge who acquitted the defendant has once again sparked a debate about the independence of Tajik courts. Human rights activists say that it is practically impossible to get a defendant acquitted in Tajik courts.
Rustam Saidakhmazoda, a judge of the Bobojon-Gafurov District Court, was detained in Dushanbe on 29 June this year and given an acquittal verdict. A week later, President Emomali Rahmon fired Saidakhmazoda “due to committing an act discrediting the honor and dignity of the judge.
On July 14, during his semi-annual press conference, the head of Tajikistan’s Supreme Court, Shermukhammad Shokhiyon, said that the case against Rustam Saidakhmadzoda was open on charges of ” abuse of power” and “knowingly making a false report. Authorities refused to provide more complete information about the case, arguing that the investigation is ongoing.
Rustam Saidakhmadzoda’s name became known in May 2021, when the local media wrote that he had acquitted a 32-year-old resident of Khujand, Afzal Majidi. Last year he was arrested and charged for “fraud” by the transport prosecutor’s office of the Sughd region. This article of Tajikistan’s Criminal Code provides for a large fine or up to five years in prison. However, the judge, Rustam Saidakhmazoda, dismissed the prosecutor’s claim and acquitted Afzal Majidi with the wording “should be acquitted due to the absence of corpus delicti in his actions.
However, a month after this verdict, the Supreme Court of Tajikistan initiated a “disciplinary case” against Rustam Saidakhmadzoda for violation of labor discipline.
Last July, Saidakhmadzoda himself complained about the insult from the transport prosecutor of the Sughd Province in a letter to the Executive Office of the President and the General Prosecutor’s Office of the country.
In this letter, Rustam Saidakhmazoda said that transport prosecutor Bobur Olimov entered his office without permission, insulted him with obscene words, and demanded he not to leave his office until he was given a copy of the verdict. Bobur Olimov himself, who was in charge of the criminal case dismissed by Rustam Saidakhmazoda, denied all these accusations of the judge in an interview with Radio Ozodi.
A few days before the detention of Judge Saidakhmazoda, law enforcement authorities arrested his secretary Aziza Khaidarova on charges of fraud. At her first meeting with her mother in the detention facility, Haidarova said that she was being pressured to testify against Rustam Saidakhmazoda.
There are more than 400 judges in Tajikistan, and the country’s courts hear nearly 11,000 criminal cases each year. However, of that number, very few criminal cases are acquitted. In 2020, the country’s courts handed down only 2, and in 2021, only 10 acquittals. In the first half of this year, no acquittals were issued by Tajik courts.
Shermukhammad Shokhiyon, Chairman of the Supreme Court of Tajikistan, during a press conference on 14 July, confirmed the absence of acquittals this year.
“This shows the good work of the preliminary investigation bodies. So there is no need to initiate a criminal case, investigate and refer it to the judicial authorities if the person did not commit a crime or his guilt is not proven,” he said.
However, some Tajik judges say that in practice it is very difficult for them to disagree with the charges.
A judge in Dushanbe, on condition of anonymity, told CABAR.asia that when a conviction comes to court, it must be confirmed and the punishment imposed, “otherwise the prosecutor gets screwed”.
“There’s a rule that if a judge overturns or acquittals, it’s a big downside for the prosecutor. In this case, either the prosecutor is punished or the prosecutor takes revenge on the judge. You saw for yourself what happened to the judge from Bobojon Gafurov district after the acquittal. The poor guy was not allowed to work in peace for more than a year,” said the interlocutor.
While the chairman of the Supreme Court considers the small number or even absence of acquittals as a sign of “improved work of the investigative authorities,” the lawyers say the opposite.
The country’s well-known former lawyer, Shukhrat Kudratov, who defended many high-profile cases in Tajikistan, believes that the low number of acquittals demonstrates the lack of independence of the courts in Tajikistan.
Reporters from the International Commission of Jurists in 2020, after several months in Tajikistan, stated that Tajikistan’s courts are not independent, with authorities interfering in their work. Judges in Tajikistan are appointed by the president. Supreme Court judges are selected by the president and approved by the upper house of parliament.
Shukhrat Kudratov says this situation has made Tajik courts dependent on the executive branch. Although under the Constitution, the judicial system in the country is independent.
“Rustam Saidakhmadzoda was arrested because he acted independently in taking a decision and rendering an acquittal, rather than at the discretion of his superiors. His arrest reminded all other judges that ‘you are not independent in your decision making. And if you take an independent decision, the fate of an arrested judge awaits you,” says Shukhrat Kudratov.
Back in 2017, Mahmadsaid Ubaidulloev, former chairman of Majlisi Milli, the country’s upper house of parliament, asked about acquittals during the confirmation of Sharof Alanazarzoda as a Supreme Court judge. In response, Alanazarzoda said that in two years he had heard 50 cases and had not made a single acquittal. Such an answer worried the Speaker of the upper house of the National Parliament and he asked the judges to hand down fair sentences.
Shukhrat Kudratov said Tajikistan’s judicial system needs radical reform.
“The legislation is not bad, but the system itself needs reform. Judges should be given autonomy in sentencing,” he said.
In his view, judges should be appointed for life instead of 10 years.
“Every judge should be assured that he or she is independent and no one can remove him or her from that position. This will untie the hands of judges to make fair decisions,” concluded Shukhrat Kudratov.