Read The Diplomat, Know The Asia-Pacific
Six Dushanbe officers face a rare prosecution over the death of Maksudjon Saidov in custody but none of them is charged with torture.
Tajikistan’s Supreme Court began hearing a criminal case on June 1 against six former police officers from Dushanbe’s Sino district, accused of involvement in the death in detention of 36-year-old Maksudjon Saidov. Two hearings have been held so far. Five defendants are present in court; the sixth has fled and is wanted. The proceedings are open, with relatives of the officers attending and four lawyers representing the defense.
Saidov, a resident of the southern city of Kulob, was detained on January 8 on suspicion of selling methamphetamine, a synthetic drug whose use has surged among young Tajiks, and transported to the capital for interrogation. He died in a police station days later. On January 12, his body was returned to his family with a request to bury him quickly; friends who spoke to RFE/RL’s Tajik Service, Radio Ozodi, on condition of anonymity said the body bore bruises and burns, and that authorities, fearing protests, asked the family to stay silent. Even Kulob’s own police department called the operation “a kind of arbitrariness,” since local law enforcement was never notified that Dushanbe officers were detaining a man on its territory.
