DUSHANBE, July 25, 2014, Asia-Plus -- The Social-Democratic Party (SDP) leader Rahmatillo Zoyirov has decided to represent Shavkat Qudratov, who is deputy chairman of the SDP, during his bribery trial.

We will recall that Shuhrat Qudratov, who was defense lawyer for jailed ex-Minister of Industry Zayd Saidov, faces charges of bribery, attempted crime and complicity in crime.

A statement, released by the Agency for State Financial Control and Combating Corruption on July 22, notes that Shuhrat Qudratov represented Amirali Sulamayev during his fraud trial in a court in Dushanbe’s Ismoili Somoni district.

According to the statement, Qudratov offered a bribe of 2,500 U.S. dollars to Judge Nizamov for bringing in an acquittal for his client.  Qudratov was reportedly detained by anticorruption officers on July 21 while he was taking money from his client.

Criminal proceedings were instituted on July 21 under the provisions of three articles of Tajikistan’s Penal Code: Article 36 – complicity in crime; Article 32 – preparation for crime or attempted crime; and Article 320 – bribery.

Qudratov is currently being held in anticorruption agency-run pretrial detention facility and an investigation is under way.

“Indeed, Qudratov took money from his client but not for bribing the judge.  He took the money from Sulamayev in order to convey them to the injured party,” Zoyirov told Asia-Plus in an interview on July 25.

According to him, Qudratov stated that on July 24 during the confrontation with Sulamayev’s friend, who also participated in handover of the money.

Zoyirov said he met with his client on June 24.

It is to be noted that Qudratov is the second defense lawyer for Zayd Saidov to be detained by Tajik authorities.  In March, Saidov’s defense lawyer Fakhriddin Zokirov was arrested for his alleged debts to a local bank.  He is still in pretrial detention.