Russia's Supreme Court has banned the Islamic Renaissance Party of Tajikistan (IRPT), officially recognizing it as a terrorist organization.

The court's representatives told Russian news agencies that the decision was made on September 14 at the request of the Prosecutor-General's Office.

Russian Prosecutor-General Igor Krasnov said in July during talks with Tajik President Emomali Rahmon in Dushanbe that a request by Tajik authorities to recognize "some groups" as terrorist in Russia "had been looked into."

In its 2021 report on freedoms around the world, Freedom House said the "authoritarian regime of President Emomali Rahmon, who has ruled since 1992, severely restricts political rights and civil liberties."

"The political opposition and independent media have been devastated by a sustained campaign of repression, and the government exerts tight control over religious expression and activity," it added.

The IRPT, long an influential party with representatives in the government and parliament, was labeled a terrorist group and banned in Tajikistan in 2015.

Dozens of IRPT officials and supporters have been prosecuted and many of them imprisoned, drawing criticism from human rights groups.

Tajik authorities have been criticized for cracking down on dissent for years.

In 2014, the opposition movement Group 24 was labeled as terrorist and extremist and banned. In March 2015, the movement's founder, Umarali Quvatov, was assassinated in Istanbul, Turkey.

With reporting by TASS and Interfax