VZCZCXRO5451
RR RUEHLN RUEHSK RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHDBU #0201 0491124
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 181124Z FEB 09
FM AMEMBASSY DUSHANBE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0048
INFO RUCNCIS/CIS COLLECTIVE
RUEHBUL/AMEMBASSY KABUL 0013
RUEHIL/AMEMBASSY ISLAMABAD 0001
RUEHNE/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI 0009
RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 0001
RUEHDBU/AMEMBASSY DUSHANBE 0071

UNCLAS DUSHANBE 000201 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM PGOV KIRF TI
SUBJECT: JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES LOSE AGAIN, BUT PRESS ON 
 
REF: 07 DUSHANBE 1531 
 
¶1. (SBU) On February 12, Tajikistan's Supreme Military Court 
denied the Jehovah's Witnesses' appeal of the government's ban 
on their activities (reftel).  The following day, the Ambassador 
met with Greg Olds and Mario Moreno, the group's U.S. lawyers 
who had flown in for the hearing. 
 
 
 
¶2. (SBU) Olds said that he was not surprised by the court's 
verdict, despite the tenuous basis upon which the judge made his 
decision.  He pointed out some of the contradictions in the 
court's reasoning, and the testimony of a government "experts" 
that the group is a "Zionist organization" because the word 
"Zion" often appears in the group's literature.  The Witnesses 
will pursue a final appeal before the Supreme Military Court, 
but Olds does not expect a different outcome. 
 
 
 
¶3. (SBU) Olds is unsure where this decision leaves the 600 Tajik 
Jehovah's Witnesses.  A State Security official who testified at 
the hearing told him that "now you [the Jehovah's Witnesses] are 
really banned."  The group will get an idea of the lengths to 
which law enforcement officials will go to implement the 
decision on April 9, when it holds its ceremony commemorating 
the death of Jesus. 
 
 
 
¶4. (SBU) Olds will continue to follow the case through the 
judicial system, but he also is engaging as many Tajik officials 
as possible to try to soften their attitude toward the group. 
Olds and Moreno had a "very productive discussion" with the new 
Director of Religious Affairs, Mavludon Mukhtorov, and hope to 
meet with him again in March.  The group will consider engaging 
Kazakhstan, which will assume the OSCE Chairmanship in 2010. 
 
 
 
¶5. (SBU) Comment: Olds and Moreno understand that the judicial 
process is merely a cover for a decision made by the authorities 
long ago.  They are pragmatically engaging the authorities in an 
attempt to show that there is nothing to fear from the Jehovah's 
Witnesses.  It is unclear how Tajik officials plan to enforce 
the court's decision.  As long as the group goes about its 
activities discreetly, we doubt there will be raids or arrests. 
We agree with Olds, however, that April 9 will be an important 
test of the government's attitude toward the group. End comment. 
 
JACOBSON