Otakhon Latifi ( Tajik:Отахон Латифи) (March 18, 1936 – September 22, 1998) was a noted journalist and politician from

Tajikistan Tajikistan (, ; tg, Тоҷикистон, Tojikiston; russian: Таджикистан, Tadzhikistan), officially the Republic of Tajikistan ( tg, Ҷумҳурии Тоҷикистон, Jumhurii Tojikiston), is a landlocked country in Centr ...

. He was born in the town of Pendjikent. Under the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

, he was both ''

Pravda ''Pravda'' ( rus, Правда, p=ˈpravdə, a=Ru-правда.ogg, "Truth") is a Russian broadsheet newspaper, and was the official newspaper of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, when it was one of the most influential papers in the ...

'' and ''

Izvestiya ''Izvestia'' ( rus, Известия, p=ɪzˈvʲesʲtʲɪjə, "The News") is a daily broadsheet newspaper in Russia. Founded in 1917, it was a newspaper of record in the Soviet Union until the Soviet Union's dissolution in 1991, and describes i ...

'''s correspondent in Tajikistan at various times. He also served as head of the Union of Journalists of Tajikistan. Latifi branched into politics in 1989, becoming deputy chairman of the Tajik Council of Ministers. He became involved in the peace process that followed the country's bloody post-independence civil war. In 1992, he became Deputy Prime Minister, as part of Tajikistan's national reconciliation government. Over time, Latifi became a prominent opposition figure, as a senior member in the United Tajik Opposition. This led to a period in exile in

Tehran Tehran (; fa, تهران ) is the largest city in Tehran Province and the capital of Iran. With a population of around 9 million in the city and around 16 million in the larger metropolitan area of Greater Tehran, Tehran is the most popul ...

and

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

between 1992 and 1997. While in Moscow, on August 4, 1994, Latifi was badly beaten outside his Moscow apartment, and key documents relating to the peace process were stolen. On his return to Tajikistan in September 1997, he chaired the panel for legal issues under the National Reconciliation Commission, a role which he continued until his death. On September 22, 1998, at around 8am, Latifi was shot at point blank range outside his apartment in Dushanbe. His murder sparked condemnation from both the government and opposition,

United Nations Secretary-General The secretary-general of the United Nations (UNSG or SG) is the chief administrative officer of the United Nations and head of the United Nations Secretariat, one of the six principal organs of the United Nations. The role of the secretary- ...

Kofi Annan Kofi Atta Annan (; 8 April 193818 August 2018) was a Ghanaian diplomat who served as the seventh secretary-general of the United Nations from 1997 to 2006. Annan and the UN were the co-recipients of the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize. He was the founde ...

and the non-government organization

Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization, headquartered in New York City, that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. The group pressures governments, policy makers, companies, and individual human ...

. His death was also mentioned in ''

Time Magazine ''Time'' (stylized in all caps) is an American news magazine based in New York City. For nearly a century, it was published weekly, but starting in March 2020 it transitioned to every other week. It was first published in New York City on Ma ...

.'' The murder, which all parties to the conflict agreed was politically motivated, also resulted in the UTO's eventual suspension of their role in the government, temporarily bringing the peace process to the point of collapse. There is still some speculation as to who killed Latifi. Crime figure Abdullo Tursunov was tried and found guilty in June 2000. However, two years before, in January 1998, another man, Ravshan Gafurov was captured by police, and promptly confessed. Gafurov was later killed by police after attempting to escape custody. Tajik police had also claimed that the murder, and several other similar killings, were linked to Islamic Renaissance Party Chairman Said Abdullo Nuri.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Latifi, Otakhon Assassinated Tajikistani journalists Ethnic Tajik people Deaths by firearm in Tajikistan 1936 births 1998 deaths Soviet journalists Tajikistani exiles Assassinated Tajikistani politicians People murdered in Tajikistan Communist Party of Tajikistan politicians Government ministers of Tajikistan Journalists killed in Tajikistan People from Sughd Region 20th-century journalists

See also

References