DUSHANBE , April 10, Asia-Plus - On April 4, police arrested Shams Zarifov, head of the Mirhusein Narziyev-run wing of the Socialist Party of Tajikistan (SPT) for the Vose district in Khatlon. 

Administration of the Narziyev-run wing of the SPT says Shams Zarifov was targeted for political motives.  

Mirhusein Narziyev has told Asia-Plus that the detention of Shams Zarifov is directly connected with his political activity.  At the same time Narziyev says he does not know what charges Zarifov faces.  Narziyev charged that head of the SPT organization for Vose was targeted for his open letter to President Emomali Rahmonov that was published in the Dushanbe weekly “Biznes & Politika” (Business and Politics) on October 27, 2005 . 

According to Narziyev, the letter, in particular, told of problems facing farming units in the country and criticized some local officials working in the agrarian sector.  

Mirhusein Narziyev says that before that critical article Shams Zarifov had repeatedly applied to different bodies of the executive power complaining about unfair policy in the socioeconomic sphere of the country.   

Mirhusein Narziyev has stressed that the Socialist Party demands that Shams Zarifov should be immediately released.  

“We also plan to release an appropriate statement calling on international organizations active in Tajikistan to assist in release of head of the SPT organization in the Vose district,” Narziyev noted.