The whereabouts of a Tajik citizen from Canada, who was detained in the capital of Tajikistan’s restive Gorno-Badakhshan province, Khorugh, on June 16, remain unknown. 

On June 17, Tajikistan’s State Committee for National Security said Aleksandr Sodikov had been detained in Khorugh on suspicion of spying for an unnamed country after he met with civil society activist Alim Sherzamonov.

Sherzamonov was one of the leaders of deadly May protests against police actions that targeted suspected criminals in Khorugh.

Sodikov, 31, said he has been touring several Tajik and Uzbek cities as part of doctoral research at the University of Toronto.

Later on June 17 some sources in Khorugh said Sodikov was released after investigators found out that his meetings in Khorugh were linked to his academic research.

However, Interior Ministry and State Committee for National Security neither confirmed nor rejected the information.

http://www.rferl.org/content/tajikistan-detains-man-on-charges-of-foreign-spying/25424786.html