DUSHAHNBE, April 12, 2011, Asia-Plus -- The trial of Fayzullo Bobokhonov, the son of former Tajik Prosecutor-General, began in the Supreme Court on April 12.

Presiding Judge Bobokalon Murodov said the trial was adjourned until April 24 as the second defendant did not appear before the court.

Habibullo Yoriyev, head of the Supreme Court’s office, told Asia-Plus that the trial was postponed because the second defendant – former senior investigator with the Hisor prosecutor’s office Shohrukh Nouraliyev – had not been brought to the court from the pretrial detention facility of the State Committee for national Security (SCNS).  “The reason is unknown,” Yoriyev said.

We will recall that Fayzullo Bobokhonov was arrested in July 2010 on corruption charges and his  property, including two houses and two vehicles, was confiscated.

Fayzullo Bobokhonov was charged with being an accomplice in a bribe-taking incident involving $20,000 while serving as chief prosecutor of Hisor district.  He was dismissed from that position in early 2010, shortly after his father Bobojon Bobokhonov retired as prosecutor-general after serving for 10 years.

Director of the Agency for State Financial Control and Combating Corruption Fattoh Saidov says Fayzullo Bobokhonov is charged with illegal deprivation of freedom, misuse of powers and large-scale bribery.  If convicted, Fayzullo Bobokhonov could face 12 years of prison, the anticorruption agency director noted.