Law enforcement is pressuring the villagers of Dodojon Atovulloev

The leader of the political movement “Vatandor” in his video address to the authorities of Tajikistan called on them to leave his relatives and loved ones alone.

On January 8, 2024, the leader of the political movement “Vatandor,” Dododjon Atovulloev, reported that employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the State National Security Committee in the city of Penjikent have intensified pressure on his relatives, family members, and fellow villagers in Penjikent.

According to him, employees of the State National Security Committee and the Ministry of Internal Affairs in the village of Voru – the small homeland of Dododjon Atovulloev in Penjikent – are exerting pressure not only on his relatives and loved ones but also on many fellow villagers, extorting money from them.

In his video address to the head of the State National Security Committee, Saymumin Yatimov, and the Minister of Internal Affairs, Razamon Rahimzoda, this opponent of Emomali Rahmon called for an end to all these repressions, violence, and extortion of money from his relatives and loved ones.

He stated that from now on he will establish good relations with all opposition forces and will act differently, and the results will not be long in coming.

“I thought that you would change the government through reforms, change the structures, restore justice, but alas, I was wrong!” – said the leader of “Vatandor.”

Dododjon Atovulloev, a well-known Tajik journalist who has led the political movement “Vatandor” for the past several years, has been one of the staunch opponents of Emomali Rahmon’s government for over 30 years.

In recent years, especially when the authorities began to sharply criticize Tajik scholars and writers, some of whom were arrested, Dododjon Atovulloev was one of those who condemned this injustice.

All of this led to the propaganda machine of the authorities once again launching slander and insults against Dododjon Atovulloev in the media and social networks. Now, according to him, security forces have begun to apply pressure and violence, and under various pretexts extort money from his relatives and loved ones.