QURGHON TEPPA, July 23, 2010, Asia-Plus  -- A case of ex-candidate to parliament from the Vakhsh district, Sayvali Nourov, has been remitted to the court of Bokhtar district for second trial, the Khatlon regional court chairperson Muhabbat Azizova said in an interview with Asia-Plus.

According to her, the Qurghon Teppa city that initially considered the case closed it.  However, the Khatlon prosecutor’s office has appealed against the decision of the Qurghon Teppa city court and the case has been remitted for second trial to the Bokhtar district court, Azizova said.

As it had been reported earlier, the Khatlon prosecutor’s office completed an investigation into the case of Nourov in mid-March and the case moved for consideration to the Qurghon Teppa city court.

Nourov faces charges of hooliganism (Article 237, Part 2 of Tajikistan’s Penal Code), preventing exercise of rights and activities of electoral commissions (Article 150, Part 2) and inflicting slight bodily injuries (Article 112) after assaulting an election official on election day, February 28, 2010.

We will recall that Tolib Khoujanazarov, the head of the electoral commission for polling station # 20 in the Vakhsh district, told Asia-Plus on March 1 that Nourov assaulted him on February 28 in front of several people after he let an elderly man cast a ballot on behalf of his sick wife.

Nourov confirmed that he saw the old man vote more than once and reported it as a violation of election rules.  But he denied punching Khoujanazarov.