DUSHANBE, April 3, 2014, Asia-Plus – The Agency for State Financial Control and Combating Corruption has reportedly instituted criminal proceedings against owners of the Sakhovat market located in Tursunzoda, some 60 kilometers to the west of Dushanbe.

According to official documents, the market is owned by Mastoura Rahmatulloyeva, the wife of the Islamic Revival Party (IRP) leader Muhiddin Kabiri.

The Tursunzoda city court is currently considering this case.

“The anticorruption agency claims that the previous owner of the market, Ms. Lutfiya Nematova, privatized that plot of land, in which the market is located, illegally,” Kabiri family’s defense lawyer, Buzurgmehr Yorov, told Asia-Plus in an interview.

According to him, Muhiddin Kabiri and his relatives purchased that market in 2009.  “His wife Mastoura Rahmatulloyeva was registered as owner of the market and their relative was registered as director of the market,” Yorov said, noting that the Tursunzoda city court is expected to deliver judgment on April 10.

Representatives from the anticorruption agency have refrained from commenting on the situation demanding an official inquiry from Asia-Plus.

Meanwhile, IRP leader Muhiddin Kabiri has noted that the case is politically motivated.