A son of an activist of the Islamic Renaissance Party of Tajikistan (IRPT) Shamsiddin Saidov, Abdullo Shamsiddin, who extradited to Tajikistan from Germany in early March, has been sentenced to seven years.

In a statement released on Wednesday, Human Rights Watch (HRW) says a court in the Tajik capital sentenced Abdullo Shamsiddin to seven years in prison on March 29 after finding him guilty of “public calls to violent change of the constitutional order of Tajikistan.”

HRW called the trial that started on March 28 unfair, “noting that did not adhere to fair trial standards, including the right of defendants to challenge the evidence used against them, based on information available.”

The statement notes that Shamsiddin applied unsuccessfully for asylum in Germany three times.  “German authorities and courts have told media that they did not believe Shamsiddin will face torture because they doubt his identity.  His case is complex, as laid out here because it involves him changing his name and several convictions in Germany,” the statement says, adding that there is serious and well-founded concern over his wellbeing in Tajikistan… 

HRV further says Germany should press Tajik authorities to release Shamsiddin or make clear the reason for his detention, take steps to ensure he is not mistreated and launch an enquiry into the circumstances of this deportation.    

According to HRV, Shamsiddin, 33, who had been living in Germany since 2009, was active in Germany in the Islamic Renaissance Party of Tajikistan.

Abdullo’s father Shamsiddin Saidov, an activist of the IRPT in January 2018 was sentenced in absentia in Tajikistan to 15 years in prison on extremism charges and is currently residing in the European Union.

In 2017, based on a change to the Criminal Procedure Code, Tajik courts gained the right to convict accused people in absentia.

The IRPT was labeled a terrorist group and banned in 2015.