The Netherlands' Foreign Ministry says Tajik authorities have confirmed that an opposition activist who resurfaced in Dushanbe last week from self-imposed exile was arrested, and that he is accused of "criminal activities."
"At this time the Dutch [Foreign Ministry] investigates whether and how it can assist [Sharofiddin] Gadoev. We are following the case closely," ministry spokeswoman Willemien Veldman said in a statement sent to RFE/RL on February 21.
A legal representative for Gadoev said earlier that authorities in the Netherlands, where the activist is said to have a residency permit, had launched an investigation into the situation after concerns were raised by Tajik opposition and rights activists about his fate.
Gadoev's mother told RFE/RL that her son had been "taken away at 8 p.m. on February 20" after spending one night at his family home, adding that she didn't know where he was.
Oishamoh Abdulloeva said Tajik authorities told her that Gadoev would be released soon. But she said she was "very concerned about" her son.
According to her, Gadoev arrived at his family home in the southern district of Farkhor on February 19, "along with several people" that Abdulloeva said she didn't know.
She said the men accompanying Gadoev stayed in her house and spent the night there, before taking him away the following evening.
Oishamoh Abdulloeva says she doesn't know where her son is. (file photo)
Gadoev's sudden return to Dushanbe sparked conflicting information about whether Gadoev had willingly traveled to Tajikistan or was forcibly returned.
Viktoria Nadezhdina, a legal representative for Gadoev, said that the activist was detained by the authorities in Russia before he reappeared in Tajikistan's capital.
"According to an official response from the Russian Foreign Ministry, Sharofiddin Gadoev was arrested in the Russian Federation based on two Interpol red notices," Nadezhdina told RFE/RL on February 20.
A "red notice" is a request through Interpol for the authorities in other countries to locate and provisionally arrest an individual pending extradition.
Asked whether Gadoev was extradited to Tajikistan by Russia, Nadezhdina said the ministry's response did not include further "details."
Nadezhdina said authorities in the Netherlands, where Gadoev has a residency permit, have also launched an investigation into the situation after concerns were raised by Tajik opposition and rights activists about his sudden reappearance in Dushanbe.
Abdusattor Boboev, a member of the National Alliance of Tajikistan, says the Europe-based opposition association is concerned about Gadoev's fate.
"We are worried that the government could create all kinds of problems for Sharofiddin, including eliminating him physically," Boboev said on February 21.
Tajik authorities claim Gadoev, co-founder of the opposition Group-24, returned to Tajikistan voluntarily and surrendered to police at Dushanbe International Airport on February 15.
The same day, the Interior Ministry shared a video in which Gadoev said that he had returned "willingly." In that video, Gadoev also criticized the opposition and urged other activists to do the same.
However, on February 19 the National Alliance posted a contradictory video message from Gadoev that the group says was recorded ahead of his trip to Russia.
"I am recording this video [to warn] that if I suddenly appear on Tajik television or some YouTube channel, saying that I have returned of my own accord -- you must not believe it," he said in the undated footage.
"I am not planning to go to Tajikistan willingly. Never. I'm not going to Tajikistan and surrender to [President] Emomali Rahmon's government," he said.
But Gadoev said he might be kidnapped and forced "under torture and pressure" to publicly speak against "certain movements, groups, and persons."
He noted that some other Tajik opposition figures had been killed, kidnapped, or disappeared during visits to Russia and that he might face a similar fate.
"I'm travelling to Russia on the 14th to meet with officials from the Security Council of Russia...to discuss some problems that have occurred in Tajikistan, also to discuss the situation of Tajik labor migrants," Gadoev said in the video.
Gadoev's return to Tajikistan raised suspicions among opposition activists and others, while his mother said she was unaware of her son's plans to return to his home in the southern district of Farkhor.
Pro-government media and some Facebook accounts posted photos of Gadoev meeting his mother and relatives at his home.
Others shared a video that shows Gadoev calling his mother from a mobile phone while a man in a Tajik police uniform and the Dushanbe correspondent of Russia's state-run RIA Novosti news agency look on.
The government of President Rahmon, who has ruled Tajikistan since 1992, has long been criticized for its crackdowns on dissent.
Tajikistan banned its longtime political rival, the Islamic Renaissance Party, in 2015 and has imprisoned dozens of opposition party officials and supporters.