Quvvatov, a businessman who formerly had ties to Rahmon's family, established Group 24 to campaign for democratic reforms in Tajikistan following the Gorno-Badakhshan clashes.

[5] On 5 October, authorities had suspended the operation of SMS systems and temporarily blocked at least 300 websites including Facebook, YouTube and Russian-language social networks.

[5][4] Members of Group 24 living outside of Tajikistan have subsequently protested state visits of Rahmon to the Czech Republic, Russia, Switzerland, and France.

[1][6][7] Amidst a government crackdown, Group 24 was banned by Tajikistan's Supreme Court on 9 October for alleged extremism; this made membership or association with the organisation a criminal offence.

His death came two days after a Tajik court sentenced another member of Group 24 to 17 years in prison for attempting to seize power and insulting the president.