DUSHANBE, June 21, Asia-Plus - Tajik democrats hope that their jailed leader Mahmadruzi Iskandarov will be included in the amnesty declared on occasion the 10th anniversary of the National Peace Accord that ended the 1992-1997 civil war.

Rahmatullo Valiyev, deputy head of the Mahmadruzi Iskandarov-run Democratic Party said in an interview with Asia-Plus that Mahmadruzi Iskandarov had made a considerable contribution to reestablishment of peace and national accord in Tajikistan and Democrats hope for human step on the part of President Emomali Rahmon ahead of the 10th anniversary of the June 1997 peace agreement signed by Tajik government and UTO (United Tajik Opposition) that effectively ended the country’s civil war.          

“We hope Iskandarov will be included in the amnesty,” Valiyev said, noting that amnesty for leader of Tajik Democrats will raise not only prestige of Tajikistan on international arena but also international prestige of President Rahmon. 

We will recall that the Supreme Court sentenced Mahmadruzi Iskandarov to 23 years in prison on October 5, 2005.  He was charged with terrorism, the embezzlement of funds, and the illegal storage of weapons.  The court also stripped Iskandarov of all previous state honors and wards, including revoking his rank of Major-General.  In January 2006, the appeals court of Tajikistan’s Supreme upheld the Supreme Court’s verdict against Iskandarov.