DUSHANBE, January 23, 2013, Asia-Plus — Umed Tojiyev died in a hospital in Tajikistan on January 19.
A statement released by Amnesty International on January 22 notes that he was reportedly subjected to torture and other ill-treatment so that he would confess to being involved with terrorism. Such treatment led him to jump out of the third floor window of the police station in Sughd province, breaking both his legs.
Umed Tojiyev died at the Central Hospital of Main Directorate of Implementation of Criminal Punishment (MDICP) in Sughd province. Umed Tojiyev had been transferred from pre-trial detention to this prison hospital on January 4, 2014. His lawyer reports that the official reason given for his death was “thrombotic embolism.”
Umed Tojiyev, 34-year-old agricultural worker and member of the opposition Islamic Revival Party, was arrested on October 30 at a market in Sughd province. He was not allowed to see a defense lawyer until November 13, 2013. His family claimed that he had been tortured and ill-treated while in detention. Reportedly, between October 30 and November 2 several officers put a plastic bag over his head, denied him sleep, food and water, and used electric shocks through wet fabric in order to avoid leaving traces of torture. In desperation, Umed Tojiyev jumped out of the third floor window of the police station in Sughd province, breaking both his legs. One lawyer, who saw him subsequently, stated that Umed Tojiyev was carried into the meeting room as he could not walk, he was shaking and crying and he said he was forced to incriminate himself under duress.
Umed Tojiyev was hospitalized with broken legs for four days and on November 5, was placed in pre-trial isolation detention. Although he was under the supervision of the detention medical officer, until his transfer to the prison hospital, his family believes that his medical treatment was not adequate.
