DUSHANBE, May 5, 2014, Asia-Plus /Avaz Yuldoshev/ -- Muhiddin Kabiri family’s lawyers have appealed to the Supreme Court of Tajikistan against the ruling handed down by the Tursunzoda city court over the case of Tursunzoda’s market Sakhovat, which is owned by the wife of the Islamic Revival Party (IRP) leader Muhiddin Kabiri, who is also member of Tajikistan’s lower house (Malisi Namoyandagon) of the parliament.

Buzurgmehr Yorov, who is one of defense lawyers of the family of Muhiddin Kabiri, says they appealed to the Supreme Court against the Tursunzoda court’s ruling on May 2. 

We will recall that by the ruling handed down by the Tursunzoda city court on April 21 Tursunzoda’s market Sakhovat was taken away from IRP leader Muhiddin Kabiri and a plot of land in which the market is located was given back to the Committee for Youth, Sports and Tourism Affairs under the Government of Tajikistan.

The court also ruled that 836,000 somoni must be reimbursed to IRP leader Muhiddin Kabiri.

Meanwhile, Kabiri family’s defense lawyers say that this amount is nothing, because their clients bought the market several years ago for 200,000 U.S. dollars.

According to official documents, the market is owned by Mastoura Rahmatulloyeva, the wife of IRP leader Muhiddin Kabiri.

The anticorruption agency claims that the previous owner of the market, Ms. Lutfiya Nematova, had constructed the market in the place of school stadium illegally and it asked the Tursunzoda city court to demolish the market as illegal.

Ms. Mastoura Rahmatulloyeva and Ms. Lutfiya Nematova are co-defendants.

Mr. Kabiri said on April 10 that he is ready to finance construction of a new school stadium if the Tursunzoda mayor’s office city allocates a plot of land.

He added that as another option he could rent stadiums for organization of sports activities for schoolchildren in Tursunzoda instead of the Committee for Youth, Sports and Tourism Affairs.

Representative of the Committee for Youth, Sports and Tourism Affairs, Mr. Jourabek Sharipov, however, refused both proposals of Mr. Kabiri.  “The stadium should be constructed where it had been situated” said Sharipov.  “The stadium should be close to school.”

IRP leader then noted that he was ready to construct a sports complex in the place of the market, if the Tursunzoda mayor’s office allocates a plot of land for construction of a new market or the court should invite international experts to assess the actual cost of the market and that amount should be paid to him.

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