Tajikistan sentences ex-officials to 27 years jail: media

Authoritarian Tajikistan sentenced several high-profile ex-officials to jail terms of up to 27 years on Wednesday after secret trials, accusing them of plotting a "coup d'etat" in the tightly-controlled state, media and lawyers said.

The landlocked impoverished country has been ruled by President Emomali Rakhmon since 1992.

Sensitive trials in Tajikistan are mostly closed to the public and press, classed as secret by authorities, who refuse to comment on them.

There has been no official information on the trial. The Tajik branch of US-financed Radio Free Europe and Asia said however that former foreign minister Khamrokhon Zarifi and a former political party leader, Saidjafar Uzmonzoda, were each sentenced to 27 years in prison.

According to the same source, seven others -- members of political parties loyal to Rakhmon, diplomats and journalists -- were given sentences ranging from eight to 18 years in prison.

A lawyer for one of the accused, who was present at the trials, confirmed the verdicts to AFP.

Tajikistan said last year that suspects had prepared a coup d'etat and the guilt of the former officials was "confirmed in full" before the trials had started.

Human Rights Watch last month called on Tajikistan to end its "repression", which it said had worsened in the Central Asian state.

Tajikistan borders Afghanistan and China and NGOs say Rakhmon has presided over a cult of personality and holds the title of "the founder of peace and national unity" as well as "the chief of the nation."

Rakhmon's supporters credit him with reconciling the country after a civil war between 1992 and 1997.