Tajik MP suspected of plotting coup d'état

Former chairman of the Democratic Party of Tajikistan, Saidjafar Usmonzoda, has been arrested on suspicion of planning a coup.

The state agency Khovar reports that he allegedly planned to seize military and law enforcement buildings and obtain weapons with the help of 3,000 fighters from terrorist organizations arriving from abroad.

Prosecutor General Yusuf Rakhmon, speaking at a parliamentary session, detailed that Usmonzoda was promised financial support and reinforcements by the Islamic Renaissance Party of Tajikistan. The plan involved more than three thousand fighters from a terrorist organization.

Rakhmon further revealed that Usmonzoda sought $10 million from a foreign representative to rally influential people and organize protests. The alleged goal was to destabilize the socio-political situation rapidly in various districts by taking over military and law enforcement agency buildings and seizing weapons.