DUSHANBE, July 11, 201, Asia-Plus – Exactly a year ago, on July 11, 2009, ex-Minister of Emergencies Mirzo Ziyoev was killed in the course of a special operation on disarming illegal armed group in Tavildara district, Rasht Valley (eastern Tajikistan).

Last summer, illegal armed groups clashed with police in Tavildara district on two separate occasions.  Tajik officials reported in early July last year that Mirzo Ziyoev had been arrested because of his support for armed groups suspected of involvement in terrorism and drug trafficking.  Tajik authorities announced shortly afterward that Ziyoev was killed in ambush by his supporters on his way to negotiate the disarming of insurgents.  His supporters deny any responsibility for his death.

Last July, Tajik law enforcement forces were fighting insurgents in the area for several weeks.  Some 50 insurgents were detained and 11 others were killed.  Tajik authorities conducted what they said was an anti-drug operation in the area.

We will recall that the Supreme Court sentenced two sons of Mirzo Ziyoev to prison terms up to 30 years; Saidahmad Ziyoev was sentenced to 30 years and Muhamamdrizo Ziyoev got a jail term of 28 years.  The sentence followed their conviction on charges of formation of illegal armed groups, illegal possession of weapons, and plotting to overthrow or forcibly change the constitutional order of the country.

Five other supporters of Ziyoev were also sentenced to jai.

In all, 49 people, including 11 people having either Russian or Uzbek citizenship, have been on the dock.  The trial having been held behind closed doors.

Criminal proceedings were instituted against them last summer following clashes between illegal armed groups and the government forces in Tavildara.

Mirzo Ziyoev was born in 1960 in the village of Khojai Khiloz in Panj district, Khatlon province.  In 1980, he finished the Geological Technical Secondary School in Dushanbe.  On finishing the technical school Ziyoev worked as irrigator in Panj district until 1992.

Mirzo Ziyoev was one of the top military commanders of the United Tajik Opposition (UTO) during Tajikistan''s 1992-97 civil war.  After the 1997 General Peace Agreement, he was eventually given his ministerial post as part of the power-sharing deal that ended the civil war.  The ministry was disbanded in 2006.