DUSHANBE, August 31, 2010, Asia-Plus — Yoqub Salimov and Ghaffor Mirzoyev are being held at the pretrial detention facility run by the penitentiary department of the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) and they could not join the prison escapees even if they wished, a reliable source at the MoJ penitentiary department said in an exclusive interview with Asia-Plus.
We will recall that Yoqub Salimov was once Tajikistan’s interior minister, ambassador to Turkey, and chairman of the state customs committee. He was sentenced to 15 years in prison in April 2005. After a five-month trial, the Supreme Court found Salimov guilty of treason, banditry, and abuse of office.
Lieutenant-General Ghaffor Mirzoyev, once the former commander of the 3,000-strong Presidential Guard and the former head of the Drug Control Agency, was jailed for life in August 2006 on charges ranging from tax evasion, corruption, abuse of power, plotting a coup and the murder of a police officer in 1998.
The source noted one of prison break masterminds, Ibrohim Nasriddinov, who is also known as Qori Ibrohim, was transferred from Guantanamo Bay to Tajikistan in March 2007. In March 2007, he was sentenced to 23 years in prison on murder and weapons charges. Nasriddinov was accused of supporting Al-Qaeda and the Taliban and receiving terrorist training in Pakistan and Afghanistan.
“Nasriddinov was serving his sentence in a high-security penal colony in Qurghon Teppa, while last year, he was transferred to the pretrial detention facility run by the State Committee for National Security (GKNB) for further investigation,” said the source, “Nasriddinov was considered “privileged” inmate, being given an easy time. He even could freely move about the pretrial detention facility at night.”
In any pretrial detention facility, recesses are inside the cells, while in the GKNB-rub detention center they are outside the cells, the source said. “On the night of August 22-23, Nasriddinov with other inmate, who allegedly had to go to toilet, probably came up to the prison guard on duty and killed him, breaking his hands and legs. Two other prison guards were severely beaten. Seizing the keys, the prison break organizers opened all cells but not all inmates joined them. Only 25 prisoners escaped,” the source supposed.
He also noted that the penitentiary department of the Ministry of Justice was surprised at availability of a large number of weapons and camouflage uniform at the pretrial detention facility run by the State Committee for National Security (GKNB) that were seized by the escapees.
“Moreover, the escapees had three hours to shave, freshen up themselves and dress in camouflage,” the source stressed.
Only three servicemen guarded the GKNB-run pretrial detention facility that night and the escapees easily overcame them, he added.
