A notorious Islamic State (IS) terror group recruiter from Tajikistan, Parviz Saidrahmonov, who is also known as Abu Dovoud, was sentenced to 21 years in prison in November on terrorism charges in Dushanbe, Tajik Supreme Court officials told reporters in Dushanbe on February 16.

The 35-year-old Parviz Saidrahmonov was extradited from Turkiye to Tajikistan in September last year and sentenced on November 11 on charges of organizing a terrorist group, extremism, and recruiting mercenaries to fight in a foreign country.

Recall, trial of Parviz Saidrahmonov began in Dushanbe in late November last year.

Parviz Saidrahmonov was one of the first Central Asians to join the IS terror group in 2014 and undertake its online propaganda work as a zealous recruiter.  He was a migrant worker in Russia when he left in 2014 for Iraq, where he joined the ranks of the IS terror group. 

This notorious IS terror group recruiter has been linked to terrorist attacks in Sweden, Russia, and Tajikistan.

Saidrahmonov was later captured by Syrian authorities and in mid-2020 disappeared from a prison in the Syrian town of Afrin when Tajikistan was working on his extradition to Dushanbe.  Turkish authorities said later they had Saidrahmonov in their custody.  The Tajik authorities reportedly received the “go-ahead” of Turkiye for extradition of Saidrahmonov to Tajikistan in July last year.

 A source within the law enforcement authorities of Tajikistan told Radio Liberty’s Tajik Service, known locally as Radio Ozodi, at the time that before that, representatives of law enforcement agencies of Tajikistan at least three times conducted negotiations with the authorities of Turkiye, but requests for the extradition of the militant remained unanswered.  Extradition of Saidrahmonov reportedly became possible after a visit of Tajik Interior Minister Ramazon Rahimzoda to Turkiye in July last year. 

Tajik authorities have considered Saidrahmonov one of the most dangerous recruiters to the IS terror group, saying he managed to recruit more than 200 people to the terrorist organization.

Tajik authorities have said that about 2,000 citizens of the Central Asian nation joined the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria in 2013-2015. Hundreds of them were killed in the clashes in the Middle East. Some of those who returned to Tajikistan were either sentenced to lengthy prison terms or received amnesty.