KHUJAND, July 30, 2013, Asia-Plus -- Three more persons have filed extortion suits against journalist Mahmadyusuf Ismoilov, Ismoilov’s defense lawyer, Fazliddin Khudoiberdiyev, told Asia-Plus today.

We will recall that Mahmadyusuf Ismoilov faces charges of fraud and extortion.  Criminal proceedings have been instituted against him under the provisions of two articles of Tajikistan’s Penal Code: Article 247 (2) – fraud and Article 250 (2) – extortion.

Ismoilov is currently being held at pretrial detention center # 2 in Khujand the administrative center of Sughd province.

Police detained former regional reporter for the Dushanbe-based independent weekly Nouri Zindagi (Light of Life) in Sughd province, Mahmadyusuf Ismoilov, on June 24 following an application by two local women.

The Tajik Interior Ministry announced on June 26 that Mahmadyusuf Ismoilov is accused of demanding bribes from two residents of the northern province of Sughd.

It is not the first time police have detained Mahmadyusuf Ismoilov.  We will recall that Mahmadyusuf Ismoilov was arrested in November 2010 on separate counts of defamation, insult, and incitement to hatred over an article titled, “Asht Is Being Destroyed. Who Is Responsible for It?”  In the article, published in the August 2010 issue of Nouri Zindagi, Ismoilov criticized government and law enforcement officials in the Asht district in the northern Sughd province of Tajikistan, and cited corruption, abuse of office, and mismanagement of funds.

Ismoilov who was facing 16 years imprisonment on charges related to his professional activities was released on October 14, 2011.  The Khujand court, however, barred Mahmadyusuf Ismoilov from journalistic work for three years, and ordered him to pay a fine in the amount of 35,000 somoni for causing moral damages.