Districts subordinate to the center (RRP – Russian abbreviation for districts subordinate for the center) top Tajikistan in terms of juvenile crime, the Minister of Education and Science, Nouriddin Said, told reporters in Dushanbe on February 5.  

In all, 602 crimes were reportedly committed by minors in Tajikistan last year, which was 15 percent or 45 cases less than in 2016.  

In the Gorno Badakhshan Autonomous Region (GBAO), Sughd and Khatlon provinces and in Dushanbe the number of crime committed by minors decreased.

Meanwhile, the juvenile crime last year showed an upward trend in some of districts subordinate to the center, the minister said.

181 crimes were committed by minors in the districts subordinate to the center last year, which was 55 cases or 43.5 percent more than in 2016.

The minister also told reporters yesterday that 10,035 nationals of the country were fined a total 1.3 million somoni last year for violating the norms of the law on holding parents responsible for their children’s action and education.

These violations include absence from school, poor progress in studies, the coming of senior school students to a school in a car and so forth, the minster noted.  

The Law on Parental Responsibility, signed into law in August 2011, in particular, prohibits persons under 18 from participating in public religious activities with the exception of funerals. 

Some local experts say the main target of the parental responsibility law is the Muslim children that the government wants to ban from going to mosques in an attempt to prevent them from becoming radical Muslims.