OSCE media freedom representative concerned about disappearance of blogger in Tajikistan

VIENNA, 18 June 2014 – OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Dunja Mijatović today expressed concern about the disappearance of Alexander Sodiqov after his detention in Khorog on 16 June. Sodiqov, a blogger and commentator on Tajik and Central Asia politics, has not been seen although media reports claim he was released on 17 June.

“I am concerned that neither his family nor his friends currently know where he is,” Mijatović said. “I have written to the Tajik authorities asking them to provide information on the whereabouts of Sodiqov and the circumstances of his disappearance.”

According to a public statement by the Department of the State Committee for National Security in the Badakhshan Mountainous Autonomous Region on 17 June, Sodiqov was detained on Monday 16 June in Khorog “during execution of the mission of special services of one of the foreign countries.”

The University of Exeter, as well as Sodiqov’s co-researchers, confirmed that Sodiqov is in Tajikistan for the university and is conducting research on a project dealing with conflict prevention methods.

Sodiqov is a Tajik contributor for GlobalVoices, the Central Asia-Caucasus Institute Analyst (The John Hopkins University) and the Eurasia Daily Monitor (Jamestown Foundation) focusing on politics in Central Asia.