The man, who accused the police of torture, now is accused of theft
Umed Khidoyatov, who became handicapped after being beaten by police in March of this year, applied for use of torture. Lately, the court rejected his complaint in view of the lack of corpus delicti. Now he is accused of theft.
On March 31, Umed Khidoyatov was detained by police in Dushanbe when he drunkenly eased nature in a local river. Law enforcement officers brutally beat him and took to a sobering-up station. The same day, Khidoyatov was taken to a hospital, where he was urgently provided with surgical aid. As it turned out, police officers damaged the circulatory system of his genital organ; as a result, the man has a rupture of scrotum. The doctors have concluded that it is impossible to restore the testicles.
According to the statement of Umed Khidoyatov, a criminal case was opened. Police officers were threatened with up to 10 years in prison. However, during five months, the accused were not detained; moreover, they were hiding from the investigation.
The Coalition of Civil Society Against Torture and Impunity in Tajikistan expressed its concern because of the inaction of the investigating authorities in the criminal case against police officers. However, not long ago it turned out that the criminal case was closed because of the absence of corpus delicti, and the accused police officers returned to work.
Meanwhile, as the radio “Svoboda” [“Liberty”] reports, referring to its source in law enforcement agencies, that now a criminal case has been instituted against Umed Khidoyatov. He is accused of theft, allegedly committed by him two months ago.
Another torture scandal occurred in Tajikistan this week. 15-year-old Alijon Alizoda, accused of double murder, told his parents that he had signed confessions after torture and the threat of assault by law enforcement officials. His parents said in the interview with radio “Svoboda” [“Liberty”] that their son is innocent. According to them, Alidzhon was summoned as a witness, and then, under torture, he was forced to admit a double murder. “At the place of the murder, our son saw four men beating the victim, who threatened Alijon to kill him and our family if he tells someone about what he saw,” said parents of Aligon Alizoda.
According to the Coalition against Torture, in 2018 they received 44 complaints from victims of torture. In the first half of this year, the Coalition provided assistance to 28 victims of torture.
Meanwhile, Tajikistan’s Interior Minister Ramazon Rahimzoda, reporting about the activities of the Ministry to the journalists, said that over the past 6 months of this year, no case of torture has been reported. In general, over this period of time, according to the Ministry of Internal Affairs in Tajikistan, 12 549 crimes were registered.
