Letter to the editor

In Vremya Novostei dated June 16, 2010, No. 102, in the article “Alien Power” about the unrest in Kyrgyzstan, author Arkady Dubnov refers to “one of those who could end up in gangster groups.” The author claims that the persons involved in these actions were recruited in Moscow and sent first to Tajikistan, and then to Kyrgyzstan with fake “certificates of return”, which they received at the “Tajik embassy”. “Changing their names, but with original photographs pasted into the certificates, their owners returned to Tajikistan,” the article says.

The Embassy of the Republic of Tajikistan in the Russian Federation categorically denies the fabrications of Mr. Dubnov stated in the article related to the activities of the embassy. Documents for issuing “so-called “certificates of return” (we are talking about a certificate of return to the Republic of Tajikistan) are accepted only from those citizens of Tajikistan who personally apply to the consular service of the embassy. Accordingly, ready-made documents are also issued only to these citizens.

We also inform you that certificates of return to the Republic of Tajikistan are issued on the basis of documents proving the identity of a citizen of the republic, as well as Form No. 1, requested from the competent authorities of Tajikistan. The consular service of the embassy does not issue documents to third parties. In accordance with international standards, a citizen who has received a certificate of return has the right to travel only to the territory of his country. The above document cannot be the basis for leaving Tajikistan to other states.

We declare that A. Dubnov’s statement about fake “return certificates” that were allegedly received at the “Tajik embassy” is untrue. The embassy stores information about all citizens who contacted the consular service on any issues. In this regard, we ask Mr. Dubnov to provide the names of the “bandits” who left Russia with such “certificates”. We would also like to quote the Deputy Chairman of the National Security Service of Kyrgyzstan, Mr. Baibolov, to whom Dubnov referred: “I don’t know where Russian journalists got this information from. I have not personally met with them, much less talked about the participation of Tajiks in the riots in the south of our country.”

Press service of the Embassy of Tajikistan in the Russian Federation