The appeals court of Tajikistan’s Supreme Court has upheld ruling handed down by the Dushanbe military court over the case of death of soldier Jahongir Qurbonov.
Dilshod Jourayev, a lawyer representing Qurbonov’s relatives, says the dead soldier’s parents denounced the ruling and intend to appeal to international judicial bodies.
Recall, a complaint filed by Rukhsora Jurakhonova, the mother of soldier Jahongir Qurbonov who was killed in a hazing incident, against the ruling handed down by the Dushanbe military court, was considered at the Supreme Court on May 11.
Rukhsora Jurakhonova says she is not satisfied with the sentence passed on Yoribek Saidov, under the command of whom her son had served. She does not believe that her son could commit suicide.
The Dushanbe military court sentenced Yoribek Saidov, the commander of platoon at military unit 2747 of Border Troops of the State Committee for National Security (SCNS), to nine years in prison on March 28 this year.
The sentence followed his conviction on charges of extortion (Article 250 of Tajikistan’s Penal Code) and abuse of power (Article 391 (3) of Tajikistan’s Penal Code).
Saidov is serving his term in a high-security penal colony.
Meanwhile, a prosecutor in the trial of Yoribek Saidov asked the Dushanbe military court on March 10 to sentence Saidov to a 14-year prison term, including a 12-year jail term for torture.
However, the charge of torture was dropped.
Judge Hotam Rajabzoda said that no proofs that the convict had used torture against the dead soldier had been produced, and therefore, the charge of torture had been replaced with charge of abuse of power.
Yoribek Saidov himself does not admit guilt.
Meanwhile, the dead soldier’s parents do not agree with the sentence and intend to appeal against the sentence. They are convinced that their son – Jahongir Qurbonov — could not commit suicide and consider that he could be killed.
As it had been reported earlier, Private Jahongir Qurbonov was found hanged in a barracks on September 11, 2016.
According to data from the NGO Coalition against Torture in Tajikistan, 59 servicemen have become victims of hazing incidents in the Tajik army over the past two years; 11 of them died.
Human rights organizations in Tajikistan have criticized the government for not doing enough to stop hazing in the military.
In a recent change, Tajikistan’s government now allows soldiers to telephone the military prosecutor's office to report alleged hazing.
