© www.rferl.orgA screen grab of recruiting for Islamic State in Yekaterinburg, Tajikistan, March 2015.
According to the verdict announced by the judge, the defendants are charged under several articles of the country's Criminal Code, including the establishment of a criminal organization, public appeals for changing the existing political system, promotion of IS ideas and recruitment of citizens for taking part in the fighting in Syria.
"The law enforcement bodies of the province traced the extremist group, among its members were three young people under 18, after the incident with rising the IS flag in the city of Shaartuz in August," a source in Tajikistan's Interior Ministry told TASS. The investigation proved the involvement of the group's members in attempts to recruit young residents of Shaartuz to Islamic State, active correspondence in social networks with supporters of the terrorist organization and a statement of their support for their ideas.
According to the State Committee for National Security of Tajikistan, more than 700 citizens of the country, mostly young people, are taking part in the fighting in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan on the side of the Islamic State.
Comment: IS tentacles reach far and wide. Every point of recruitment is an anchor to and of this devastating societal plague and territorial end-game, brought to someone else's (your) doorstep courtesy the US, UK, Israel and NATO. No restrictions apply.
Recruitment involves a propaganda video, promises of money and a "carefree life" for those who travel to IS-controlled areas in Syria and Iraq. Most recruits come from labor migrants. Scaremongering plays on the fears of the "Islamist threat" and the societal effects/ramifications of radicalization. Over a million Tajik migrants work in Russia.