DUSHANBE -- Tajik authorities have arrested the mother of exiled blogger Sherzod Mamadjonov on an extremism charge that the outspoken government critic called a politically motivated attack on his family.
The Tajik Interior Ministry said late on February 8 that Shohida Mamadjonova was arrested on suspicion of organizing extremist activities. The ministry did not give any further details.
Domestic and international rights groups for years have criticized authoritarian leader Emomali Rahmon, who has ruled Tajikistan since 1992, for using the security forces and other levers of power to sideline opponents and suppress dissent.
Mamadjonova had been missing for five days after she was summoned to a police station in the town of Vahdat, near Dushanbe.
Her son, Sherzod (aka Abdurahmon) Mamadjonov, who resides in Germany, is known in Tajikistan for his blog criticizing the government for its restrictive policies toward practicing Muslims in the tightly controlled country.
He said that his mother had earlier been summoned by the police several times, where they ordered her to persuade her son to return to Tajikistan.