[RFE/RL] A former militant has publicly expressed remorse for joining Islamist fighters in Syria in Tajikistan. Farruh Sharifov, from the northern city of Khujand, spoke to a large VIP audience at the Jami Palace in central Dushanbe on Thursday. He gave a gruesome account of the jihad in Syria, and said he was appalled by the cruel and barbaric behavior he witnessed.
Sharifov said that people were often beheaded by the Islamic State over unproven accusations, without legitimate investigations or trials. He said he witnessed the decapitation of several Islamists from Azerbaijan who had been accused of blasphemy or spying for the Kurds.
Sharifov's public penitence seems meant to curb the outflow of Tajik jihadis. Tajik officials have estimated that 300 Tajik men and women are fighting alongside Islamist militants in Syria and Iraq.
Meanwhile, Tajikistan's Supreme Court has announced that 19 people from his native Sharifov's region were sentenced to prison for extremist activity.
The 19 were sentenced to prison terms between 9 1/2 and 17 1/2 years after being found guilty of involvement with the banned Islamist group Jamaat Ansarullah. Four more defendants got one-year sentences for failing to report the other 19 to the authorities.
Over the past five months, 47 people have been sentenced in Tajikistan for being members of Jamaat Ansarullah, which is believed to be linked to the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan. The IMU has links to Al-Qaeda, the Taliban, and some members have declared allegiance to the Islamic State group.