Sodiqov worked for the National Democratic Institute (NDI), Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) and UNICEF, and lectured at the Russian-Tajik Slavonic University in Dushanbe, Tajikistan.
[4][5] On June 15, Sodiqov traveled to Khorog, the capital of the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Province in eastern Tajikistan, to interview a number of civil society representatives.
On June 16, he was apprehended by security officials during an interview with Alim Sherzamonov, the head of the local branch of the Social-Democratic Party of Tajikistan (SDPT), in Khorog.
[14][15][16] Despite these reassurances, the SCNS formally charged Sodiqov under Article 305 of Tajikistan's Criminal Code ("High Treason"), which carries a prison sentence of between 12 and 20 years.
[19] Sodiqov's arrest on espionage and treason charges generated international outcry, with many rights groups and watchdogs calling for information, fair treatment and his release.
[26] The Canadian Journalists for Free Expression (CJFE), PEN International, and a coalition of over 60 human rights NGOs from across the OSCE region also condemned Sodiqov's arrest and demanded that Tajikistan release him.
[32][33] The scholar's academic supervisor and other graduate students at the University of Toronto set up a website, www.freealexsodiqov.org, and used social media to disseminate information about Sodiqov's cause, using the hashtag #freealexsodiqov.
Shortly after the scholar's arrest, the government of Canada requested that Tajikistan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs keep it informed about Sodiqov's case.
[46][47] On July 17, 2014, the US envoy to the OSCE told the organization's permanent council in Vienna that the United States was "deeply concerned" about the scholar's continuing detention.
[48] Sirojiddin Aslov, the then-Foreign Minister of Tajikistan, came under significant political pressure during his official visit to Great Britain in early July 2014.