Belarus has neither granted political asylum to former football player Parviz Tursunov nor extradited him to Tajikistan.
“Within 24 hours, Parviz had been prevented from entering Kyiv. But in the end, he was admitted to the country, We express gratitude to our local colleagues for their engagement. The process of applying for asylum has been launched; but nothing matters more than his being at liberty,” human rights defender Nasta Loyka said on Facebook.
Tajikistan suspects 43-year-old Tursunov, a former top league football player, of ‘extremism’. On September 18, he was detained at Minsk Airport. A day later, Belarusian prosecutors resolved to place him under arrest. The Tajik authorities counted on Tursunov’s being extradited. The athlete claims he might be put to torture in his native country.
“After we get all the materials, we will study them and give a legal assessment,” the Belarusian side said.
Tursunov was kept in Minsk detention facility for over two months.
In Tajikistan, the footballer was suspended due to the refusal to… shave his beard off.
Parviz Tursunov is an ordinary Muslim who has no relation to radical Islamists, Muhamadjon Kabirov, a Tajik political refugee, journalist and human rights activist, told Belsat TV in September. After he was withdrawn from the league, a criminal case was opened against him over the alleged establishing an extremist organization. He had to leave the country and spent some years in Dubai.
The Tajik authorities use all methods to persecute dissidents and drive them out of the country, including charges in participating in ‘wrong’ religious movements and pinning a label of ‘enemy of the people’, Kabirov stressed.
