Law enforcement officials in Khatlon region reported that searches for Salimboy Shamsiddinov, leader of the Uzbek community, did not give any results.

Deputy Head of the Department of Internal Affairs of Khatlon region of Tajikistan, Eminjon Jalilov, said that rumors in the community that local security forces are involved in disappearance of Salimboy Shamsiddinov are unfounded.

“Son of Salimboy Shamsiddinov filed an appeal to us, and based on this we continue to search for this person. Shamsiddinov was not arrested by law enforcement agencies. If law enforcement institutions arrested Shamsiddinov, they would have informed us about it,” said Jalilov, representative of law enforcement of Khatlon region.

He also refuted the statement by Amnesty International that the disappearance of Salimboy Shamsiddinov may be politically motivated kidnapping.

“The authorities have no relation to the disappearance of the head of the Uzbek society. The fact that foreign organizations and other individuals politicize this issue is complete nonsense,” said Jalilov.

The chairman of the Society of Uzbeks in Khatlon region, Salimboy Shamsiddinov, went missing on March 15.

Chairman of the Social Democratic Party of Tajikistan, Rahmatullo Zoirov, told reporters earlier that Salimboy Shamsiddinov informed him that he was being followed by officers of police and local intelligence.

“Every day I am in contact with friends and relatives of Shamsiddinov. Except two or three hypotheses we have no news,” said Rahmatullo Zoirov to “Jarayon” on March 28.

Last spring unknown persons attacked 58-year-old Salimboy Shamsiddinov.

After the incident Salimboy Shamsiddinov stated that the attack against him was related to his statements criticizing the politics of the Tajik authorities and its consequences, especially the worsened relations between Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

In his interviews to local and international agencies, Salimboy Shamsiddinov reiterated many times that in Tajikistan, which has a population of 8 million people, there are about 1.5 million ethnic Uzbeks, but the Tajik authorities have always deliberately reduced this figure.

Before his disappearance, Salimboy Shamsiddinov reported that he was intending to hold a press conference, where he would talk about violation of the right of ethnic Uzbeks living in Tajikistan by the local authorities.

In an exclusive interview to independent newspaper “Millat” (“Nation”), which was published last year, Shamsiddinov accused the government of Tajikistan accused of “nationalism.” The leader of Uzbek society also said that president Emomali Rahmon must change the foreign policy of the country and strengthen its relations with Uzbekistan.

Leader of the Social Democrats Rahmatullo Zoirov says that Shamsiddinov called Uzbeks in Khatlon to support Zoirov’s candidacy in the next presidential elections in Tajikistan.

“The disappearance Shamsiddinov coincided with presidential elections in the country. The disappearance of the chairman of the Uzbeks society in Khatlon region has political reasons,” said Amnesty International in a statement on March 27.

However, Tajik authorities completely refuted statement of the authoritative international organization.