After completing a 15-day jail sentence for holding unauthorized rally in Dushanbe, four activists of the opposition Democratic Party of Tajikistan (DPT) say Tajik authorities misunderstood them.

In his first appearance since the release from jail on November 20, Rajab Mirzo, well-known Tajik journalist and head of the Dushanbe chapter of DPT, claimed the main goal of the rally was to express protest “in a civilized manner”.

“Authorities simply misunderstood our action. The aim of our rally was to show people that there is a peaceful way of expressing protest,” said Rajab Mirzo in an interview to Vaqt (November 23, 2006, Page 1, 3).

Mr. Mirzo pointed at the public disorder in Dushanbe in early September. It occurred when young people came to the concert of a popular Iranian singer Orash and were told that the singer was not performing that day. After that, young people crowded the streets of Dushanbe and began throwing stones at cars and buses.

“This was an aggressive protest. If those young people had been familiar with peaceful protests, they would not have probably resorted to violence,” Mr. Mirzo suggested.

Rajabi Mirzo also said their rally was not illegal:

“Before holding the rally, we consulted experts and lawyers [on the issue]. They have confirmed that we did not need any formal permit to express our protest the way we did”.

Mr. Mirzo suggested that it was just a coincidence that the rally was held two days prior to the presidential election. He insisted that they have not deliberately tried to organize the rally on the very eve of the vote.

Meanwhile, other participants of the November 4 rally in front of the Justice Ministry say the timing of the rally was intentionally chosen to draw attention of western and international watchdogs to the problem of the Democratic Party.

“We decided to hold the rally just before the election so that the event makes it to the news and election watchdogs learn about Justice Ministry’s illegal actions,” said earlier Shuhrat Kudratov, head of the youth wing of Social-Democratic Party, who also took part in the rally.

Mr. Mirzo’s cautious comments on the ill-famous rally indicate that after spending 15 days in jail, he has become more careful with what he says.