Case Of Jailed Tajik Politician Progresses In Russia

Mahmadruzi Iskandarov (file photo) (RFE/RL) MOSCOW, June 23, 2006 (RFE/RL) -- A Moscow lawyer for jailed Tajik opposition leader Mahmadruzi Iskandarov says she has appealed to Russian judicial authorities to help bring her client back to Russia for questioning over his alleged abduction in 2005.

Anna Stavitskaya today told RFE/RL's Tajik Service that the appeal follows a decision by a Moscow regional court on June 21 to overturn a lower court's ruling that there was no need to question Iskandarov over the circumstances of his mysterious return to Tajikistan.

Iskandarov, the leader of Tajikistan's Democratic Party, was living in self-imposed exile in Korolyov, near Moscow, until last year. He claims he was abducted and forcibly brought back to Tajikistan to be tried.

Tajikistan's Supreme Court last October sentenced him to 23 years in jail on terror-related charges that he denies.