DUSHANBE, February 7, 2014, Asia-Plus — Despite the fact that according to findings of the forensic medical examination, Umedjon Tojiyev died of a heart failure, investigation into his death is under way, Tajik Prosecutor-General Sherkhon Salimzoda announced at a news conference in Dushanbe on February 7.
According to him, Tojiyev was detained in late October on suspicion of being member of an extremist group.
Tajik chief prosecutor reiterated an official version of the incident saying that Tojiyev tried to escape from the Interior Ministry’s office in Isfara by jumping off the third floor and broke his leg.
He further added that criminal proceedings had been instituted against several officers of the Isfara police station under the provisions of Article 322 of Tajikistan’s Penal Code – negligence.
Umedjon Tojiyev died in a prison hospital in Khujand, the capital of the northern Sughd province on January 19. Tojiyev was transferred to this prison hospital from the pre-trial detention facility in the northern city of Isfara on January 4.
His lawyer reports that the official reason given for his death was “thrombotic embolism.” Tojiyev’s colleagues and relatives, however, say he might have been tortured while in custody.
We will recall that Tojiyev jumped from a third-floor window on November 2, 2013 and broke both his legs. He was officially being charged with organizing a criminal group. Tojiyev was initially arrested on October 30 for refusing to follow police instructions.
Police say that the 34-year-old activist of the IRP from Isfara allegedly tried to escape from local police station by jumping off the third floor.
His relatives say he might have been subjected to torture and other ill-treatment and such treatment led him to jump out of the third floor window of the police station.
