Els informes sobre l’arrest d’Alexander Sodiqov es van filtrar per primera vegada durant la tarda del 16 de juny. Segons Radio Free Europe / Radio Libery Tadjikistan , l’investigador del Tadjikistan, estudiant de doctorat a la Universitat de Toronto i ex editor de Global Voices en l'Àsia central, estava reunit amb Alim Sherzamonov, representant regional del Partit Social Demòcrata del Tadjikistan, de l’oposició.
Reports of Alexander Sodiqov’s arrest first filtered out during the afternoon of June 16, when the researcher, a Tajik-born PhD student at the University of Toronto and the former Central Asia Editor for Global Voices, was meeting with Alim Sherzamonov, regional representative of the opposition Social Democratic Party of Tajikistan, according to RFE/RL’s Tajik service.