DUSHANBE, June 3, 2015, Asia-Plus – A statement released by the Prosecutor-General’s Office on June 3 notes that criminal proceedings were instituted against former OMON (special police unit) commander Gulmurod Halimov on May 28 under the provisions of three articles of Tajikistan’s Penal Code: Article 187 (2) – participation in a criminal group; Article 305 – high treason; and Article 401’ – illegal participation in foreign armed conflicts.

On the same day, Halimov was declared internationally wanted.

The statement also notes that the report released by some media sources that a special commission comprising representatives from the country’s law enforcement agencies has been set up to establish the facts of Halimov’s case does not correspond to the facts.

This commissions was reportedly set up in early April to investigate cases of participation of Tajik nationals in foreign armed conflicts.

The statement, in particular, says that information that some of Halimov’s colleagues allegedly also joined the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group together with him does not correspond to the facts; on contrary, “all Halimov’s former colleagues strongly condemned his dishonorable action.”

We will recall that the special police unit commander Gulmurod Halimov who has been missing since late April reappeared on the Internet, claiming that he has joined ISIL militants in protest at official restrictions on religious observance back home.

In a video posted on YouTube on May 27, Colonel Gulmurod Halimov says that Tajik labor migrants "must stop serving infidels" in Russia and join ISIL in Syria and Iraq in order to establish Shari''a law in other countries, including Tajikistan.