A legal battle to save Tajikistan's last synagogue from demolition took a turn for the worst last week when a district court in the capital city of Dushanbe ruled in favor of a city administration plan to demolish it, according to an April 18, 2008 report by the Regnum news agency. The Ismoili Somoni district court ruled that the synagogue building belonged to the city government, making it within its rights to demolish the shul to make room for a sweeping re-development plan for the downtown area. Rubbing salt in the wound, the court also ruled that the city administration is under no obligation to provide the Jewish community an alternative location for the synagogue, which is especially problematic, since the majority of the 350 or so religiously observant Jews left in the city after the turmoil of the last decade's civil war are elderly and would therefore have difficulty attending a synagogue on the outskirts of town. Community leaders plan to appeal the decision.

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