DUSHANBE, May 17, Asia-Plus  -- A court in Dushanbe’s Shohmansour district has ruled to give the wing of the Democratic Party (DPT{) run by jailed Mahmadruzi Iskandarov one month to give its property the party’s win led by Masoud Sobirov and DPT’s head office in Dushanbe has been sealed.  

Speaking in an interview with Asia-Plus, Rahmatullo Valiyev, the deputy head of the Iskandarov-run wing, said that bailiff with a court in Dushanbe’s Ismoili Somoni district on May 16 sealed the party head, following a ruling handed down by a court in Dushanbe’s Shohmansour district. 

According to him, the Shohmansour court on May 14 ruled to give their wing one month to give its property to the party’s win led by Masoud Sobirov, whose wing was recognized by the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) as the official Democratic Party.   

 Valiyev noted that the bailiff did not have the right to seal their office because they have rented it from a private individual.  “They did not have the right to seal the office because we have rented it form a private individual, and it is not our but his property,” Valiyev said.  

In the meantime, Bailiff Ghani Nazarov said that if the Iskandarov-wing ignores the Shohmansour court ruling, they will have to apply to the prosecutor’s office asking for forced serving of the ruling.  

It is already the second such ruling.  The Shohmansour court handed don such ruling for the first time on May 14, 2007.  We will recall that the party split after Sobirov formed a separate faction in April 2006, which a MoJ recognized as the official Democratic Party in October 2006.  

Members of the Iskandarov-run wing intend to hold a session of the Political Council on May 19 to consider the present situation.