Yaqub Salimov (Tajik: Яъқуб Салимов, Persian: یعقوب سلیموف, Russian: Якуб Салимов; born 20 May 1956) served as Minister of the Interior of Tajikistan from December 1993 to 1995.
Career
Salimov, described as a 'mafia' figure by Olivier Roy, was allegedly involved in smuggling and racketeering during the Soviet era.[1] In 1990, Yaqub Salimov was convicted for taking part in the Dushanbe riots.[2] When the Tajikistani Civil War broke out, Salimov was released from prison, and became a leader of Popular Front of Tajikistan, a paramilitary group fighting on the government side.[2][3] Salimov became a leader of the Kulabi faction, because his mafia was simply the expression of Kulabi solidarity networks, with access to arms and money, according to Olivier Roy.[1]
He was appointed Minister of Internal Affairs of Tajikistan in December 1993. In 1995 he was relieved of this post and was made Ambassador to Turkey.[4] In 1997, he was charged with attempting a coup d'état. He subsequently fled Tajikistan but was arrested in Moscow in 2003 and extradited to Tajikistan.[2] On 25 April 2005, he was sentenced to 15 years in prison. Salimov was released on 21 June 2016.[3]
References
- Roy, Olivier (October 2007). The New Central Asia: Geopolitics and the Birth of Nations. NYU Press. pp. 100–. ISBN 978-0-8147-7609-4.
- Gafarly, Mekhman (25 February 2004). На родину в наручниках Россия экстрадировала в Душанбе бывшего главу МВД Таджикистана Якуба Салимова (in Russian). Novye Izvestiya. Archived from the original on 13 March 2010. Retrieved 23 October 2008.
- Pannier, Bruce (8 April 2008). "Tajikistan: Opposition Leader Brought Home to Face Charges, Ex-Interior Minister Imprisoned for 15 Years". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.
- "Yakub Salimov has been operated in Moscow | Tajikistan News ASIA-Plus". Retrieved 13 September 2017.