DUSHANBE, September 25, 2013, Asia-Plus – Tajik known businessman Zayd Saidov denies new charge of raping minor girl that was brought against him recently.

“During the face-to-face confrontation that took place on the night of September 25, Zayd Saidov did not admit to the sexual relations with that girl,” Shuhrat Qudratov, one of defense lawyers of Zayd Saidov, told Asia-Plus in an interview.

We will recall that investigators from the anticorruption agency brought another charge of raping minor girl against Zayd Saidov in the afternoon of September 24.

New charges have been brought against Zayd Saidov under the provisions of two articles of Tajikistan’s Penal Code: Article 131 – illegal deprivation of liberty; and Article 138 – rape of a person who did not reach fourteen years of age.  

According to Qudratov, the anticorruption agency investigator, Zuhal Rahimov, last week tried to make guards of Saidov’s summer cottage witness against Zayd Saidov and say that he had allegedly been bringing that girl to the summer cottage in his car, but they refused and made complaints to the Prosecutor-General’s Office against Rahimov.

Zayd Saidov went on trial in Dushanbe on September 12.  The trail is being held in the pretrial detention facility of the State Committee for national Security (SCNS) behind closed doors.

Zayd Saidov, who is the leader of Tajikistan''s unregistered New Tajikistan party, was arrested on May 19 and charged with bribe-taking (Article 319 of Tajikistan’s Penal Code), abuse of office (Article 314), financial fraud (Article 247), extortion (Article 250), polygamy (Article 170), and sexual relations with a minor (Article 125), among other charges.

Saidov denies any wrongdoing and says his case is politically motivated.  He said earlier this year at a court hearing that he believes he is being persecuted for his decision to set up his political party.