DUSHANBE, May 26, 2016, Asia-Plus – Four police officers have reportedly been punished for mistreating partygoers at the Holi Festival of Colors (a Hindu spring festival) in Dushanbe.
According to the Interior Ministry’s website, four police officers were implicated in wrongdoing, and disciplinary action was imposed upon them; one of them was sacked and severe reprimand was imposed on three others.
The Interior Ministry says that “following numerous applications by citizens 48 suspected persons, including 31 minors, were taken to a police station in Dushanbe’s Ismoili Somoni district.” They were allegedly released after drawing up of necessary documents and conversations with their parents.
A statement released by the Interior Ministry only two weeks after the incident says that police officers “were acting in accordance with law requirements.”
We will recall that the celebrations that took place at Dushanbe’s Spitamen Stadium on May 15 turned sour after a number of young partygoers claimed they had been arrested and abused by the police.
The NGO Coalition Against Torture
has urged the partygoers who suffered from police mistreatment to take action against the police officers, and offered to represent them in court.
Coalition
representative, Ms. Dilrabo Samadova, told
Asia-Plus
that parents of four minors had already applied to them for help.
Platforma
, a Tajik- and Russian-language public group on Facebook, was among the first social-media accounts to post a 16-minute recording, allegedly made on a mobile phone in the police station.
Platforma
claims that some 200 people — many of them underage children — were taken to a police station in Dushanbe”s Ismoili Somoni, where they faced beating, swearing, and humiliation.
In the recording, male voices could be heard swearing and insulting and there are sounds suggesting the exchanges become physical.
The recording that was shared on May 18 sparked outrage and calls for immediate probes.
Ms. Samadova says they have studied the recording and concluded that the police officers beat the detainees 25 times during the 16 minutes recorded.
Local NGO
Alegriya
, which is organizer of the celebrations, said it had obtained an official permit to invite 400 people to the gathering to mark Holi.
