DUSHANBE, November 20, 2013, Asia-Plus -- President Emomali Rahmon reportedly urges to punish all traffic offenders, regardless of whose children they are. 

“During today’s visit to the Interior Ministry on November 20, President Emomali Rahmon touched upon the issue of reckless driving by children of the country’s elite,” Abdufattoh Sharipov, a spokesman for the president, told Asia-Plus Wednesday afternoon.

According to him, President Rahmon has urged to punish all traffic offenders, including children of officials, state workers, and rich citizens.

We will recall that in a statement released on November 1 to mark the beginning of the operation of the traffic surveillance system in Dushanbe start, the presidential press service said that 850 traffic surveillance cameras installed around the city will monitor the streets to prevent, among other violations, “deadly accidents involving the children of officials, state workers, and rich citizens.”

The statement comes three weeks after three people were killed in a crash in Dushanbe, in which the 16-year-old son of the chief of the Tajik state railway company, Rasoul Amonullo, was involved.

We will recall that three persons were killed and three others were seriously injured on October 9 as BMW crashed into VAZ- 21-04.  According to the Interior Ministry’s website, the 16-year-old Rasoul Amonullo, who was behind the wheel of BMW, is responsible for the deadly accident.

Rasoul Amonullo was reportedly driving his brand-new BMW above the speed limit in the wee hours of the morning when he struck another vehicle.

Criminal proceedings have been instituted under the provisions of Article 212 (3) of Tajikistan’s Penal Code – traffic infringement and violation of rules of exploitation of means of transport entailing the death of two and more persons.

The children of the country''s elite are known to often participate in nighttime street races.