An opposition activist from Tajikistan has been sentenced to 8.5 years in prison over a YouTube video.

The prosecutor has requested that Tajik opposition figure Sharofiddin Gadoev be sentenced in absentia to eight and a half years in a penal colony over a case of spreading “fake news” about the Russian army (paragraphs 'b' and 'd' of part 2, article 207.3 of the Criminal Code), reports Mediazona.

The criminal case stems from a 2022 video on the ISLOH TV YouTube channel, where, according to investigators, Gadoev spoke in Tajik about civilians in Ukraine killed by the actions of the Russian army. The prosecution is based on the testimonies of two witnesses—both originally from Tajikistan. One of them, religious figure Khairiddin Dastakov, told the court that Gadoev and his associates aim to stage a coup in Tajikistan and spread anti-Russian propaganda. According to Dastakov, their publications are directed against “a strong Russia.”

Sharofiddin Gadoev is one of the leaders of the “National Alliance of Tajikistan,” which has been designated as extremist and banned in Tajikistan. He lives in the Netherlands. In June 2024, Moscow’s Basmanny Court arrested him and another alliance member, Muhammadikbol Sadurdinov, in absentia. At the time, the court ruling stated that the criminal case was initiated because of publications criticising Russian military personnel.

18:31 Basmanny District Court in Moscow has handed down an in absentia sentence of eight and a half years in a general regime penal colony for Gadoev, writes Mediazona.

The headline of this news item was updated following the verdict