TAJIK SECURITY SERVICES DETAIN NDI'S ACTING DIRECTOR

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 DUSHANBE 000781

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

STATE FOR SCA/CEN, EUR/ACE, DRL

E.O. 12958: DECL: 4/27/2016
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM TI
SUBJECT: TAJIK SECURITY SERVICES DETAIN NDI'S ACTING DIRECTOR


CLASSIFIED BY: Richard E. Hoagland, Ambassador, EXEC, Embassy
Dushanbe.
REASON: 1.4 (b),(d)




1. (C) SUMMARY: Ministry of Interior officers detained
National Democratic Institute (NDI) Acting Director Nurul
Rahimbekov April 26 as he was attempting to board a domestic
flight to Khujand to conduct a training program for political
parties. Contacts in the Ministry of Security, which has taken
over the case, have made criminal allegations against
Rahimbekov, a Kazakhstani citzen, unrelated to his official NDI
activities. Although they told Post's Senior Law Enforcement
Advisor (SLEA) that Rahimbekov would be released from custody
to face charges, as of 16:00 hours April 27 he remains in
custody in an unknown location, though likely the Ministry of
Security's detention center in Dushanbe. Embassy officers have
had no access to him. The heavy-handedness and swiftness of the
action again Rahimbekov suggest Ministry of Security officials
were looking for an opportunity to catch him in violation of
Tajik law in order to remove him from Dushanbe. We cannot
totally rule out a set-up. END SUMMARY.


2. (SBU) Rahimbekov called POLOFF at 17:32 on April 26 to
report four Ministry of Security officers were preventing him
from getting on his flight from Dushanbe to Khujand, the capital
of Sogdh Oblast, where he had planned to conduct political-party
training. The normally cheerful and unflappable Rahimbekov said
with great distress, "This is very bad. Four guys are all over
me. One threatened me, although they will not tell me why."
PolOff immediately asked the Embassy expediter, working in
another part of the airport, to go to domestic departures and
talk with authorities until she arrived. When she arrived at
17:55, the Embassy expediter reported no one was at the gate and
the flight had departed. The expediter's contacts - including
the Ministry of Security's representative at the airport,
"Siroj" - confirmed Rahimbekov had been detained.


3. (C) Initially, it was unclear why he was detained. Ministry
of Foreign Affairs (MFA) contacts were unaware of the charges
and the situation. After a series of phone calls, senior
Ministry of Security officials told SLEA Rahimbekov and a friend
allegedly had had sexual relations with two minors in the NDI
offices April 25 and paid them 20 somoni ($7). One girl's uncle
had pressed charges with the Ministry of the Interior, and the
Ministry of Justice had given the order to detain Rahimbekov.


4. (SBU) After an initial false report that Rahimbekov would be
released from custody around 20:00 April 26, SLEA reported the
Ministries of Interior and Security had a signed a letter to
release Rahimbekov the morning of April 27. On April 27, NDI
local staff, including guards and drivers, were called to the
Ministry of Security for intense interrogations. A Deputy
Minister of Security told SLEA if Rahimbekov agreed to be
deported at the first opportunity, the case would be closed and
would be kept from the media.


5. (SBU) As the day drew on and Rahimbekov remained in custody,
the Ministry of Security reported Rahimbekov had refused to sign
a statement and demanded the presence of a U.S. Embassy Official
and a "U.S. Lawyer." Ambassador Hoagland spoke with the
Kazakhstani Ambassador, who reported Rahimbekov refused the
consular services from the Kazakh Embassy. The Ambassador urged
the Kazakhstani Ambassador to work with Rahimbekov to get him
out of Tajikistan.


6. (SBU) Rahimbekhov's wife and father called POLOFF several
times from Kazakhstan on April 27, asking what the U.S. Embassy
could do to help secure his release. She suggested they contact
the Kazakhstani Embassy in Dushanbe.


7. (SBU) The Ambassador requested an urgent meeting with
Foreign Minister Nazarov or First Deputy Foreign Minister
Yatimov, but Nazarov and other officials have been huddled with
President Rahmonov all day preparing for his state visit to
Kazakhstan, and Yatimov is in Germany.


8. (U) PROVISIONAL PRESS GUIDANCE. Tajik Security Services
detained the Acting Director of the National Democratic
Institute on April 26 in Dushanbe. The Acting Director is a
citizen of Kazakhstan. The U.S. Embassy in Dushanbe is working
urgently with the Government of Tajikistan and the Embassy of
Kazakhstan to clarify the situation.


9. (C) COMMENT: Whether or not the allegations against
Rahimbekov are true, the swift way in which the Ministry of
Justice and Ministry of Security acted to authorize Rahimbekov's

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detention suggest larger political goals than keeping Dushanbe's
citizens safe from vice. We cannot rule out the possibility of
a classic Soviet-style entrapment. The Embassy is following the
case closely and will continue to work with the MFA, Ministry of
Security, and the Kazakhstan Embassy to resolve the situation
and ensure that all of Tajikistan's laws are followed, not just
those that conveniently catch a controversial NGO head in any
sort of act. END COMMENT.
HOAGLAND