KHUJAND, April 11, 2013, Asia-Plus - Former police officer from Sughd province has got a long jail term for trafficking local young women to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Turkey.

A court in the northern city of Khujand sentenced Bahriddin Umarov, 37, former officer from the police station in the Bobojonghafurov district, to 7 ½ years in prison on April 11.  The sentence followed his conviction on the charges of recruitment, transportation or harboring of persons for the purpose of exploitation, abusing powers and plural marriages.

Bahriddin Umarov is also barred from serving in the law enforcement agencies during threes.  He will serve his term in a high-security penal colony.

According to the Khujand city court chairperson, Ms. Matlouba Habibulloyeva, who presided over the trail, says Umarov and his concubine promised the women jobs in their shops in UAE and Turkey, but the women they recruited were actually intended for brothels.  “They have trafficked at least four local young women, including one underage girl,” Habibulloyeva noted.

Bahriddin Umarov was arrested by law enforcement officers in November last year.