DUSHANBE, February 5, 2013, Asia-Plus – Questions have been raised about another Tajik prison inmate’s death.
Mahmadsharif Nasriddinov has been found dead in his cell in a prison, Radio Liberty’s Tajik Service reports.
Relatives of Mahmadsharif Nasriddinov told RFE/RL that unnamed sources in the prison said he was severely beaten by prison guards on February 2.
Nasriddinov was reportedly found hanged later that day.
Prison officials say Nasriddinov had psychological problems, but his relatives say he had no such issues and looked great when they saw him recently.
A spokesman for Tajikistan”s Penitentiary System Directorate, Odinasho Murodov, refused to comment further on the incident, saying he had no information about the case.
Several inmates in Tajikistan”s prisons have been found dead recently, with relatives questioning the circumstances.
In October 2012, Amnesty International urged Tajik President Emomali Rahmon to take measures against widespread torture and other ill-treatment in Tajikistan”s detention facilities.
