Sacha Baron Cohen's new comedy film The Dictator will not be shown in the movie theaters of Tajikistan due to “the mentality of people,” Tajik movie distributor Tantana said.

The licensing department of state cinema and video company Tajikkino said the film has not undergone mandaory licensing and censoring procedures. Therefore, movie theaters that show the film could be fined.

The Dictator has also been banned in Turkmenistan.

In other Central Asian countries, and in Russia, the film premiered on May 17.

The Dictator, directed by Larry Charles, who also shot Cohen's Borat and Bruno movies, is “the heroic story of a dictator who risked his life to ensure that democracy would never come to the country he so lovingly oppressed,” according to promotional materials.