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Tajik policemen's trial in detainee's death resumes

June 06, 2011

Safarali Sangov

DUSHANBE – The trial has resumed in Dushanbe of two former police officers charged over the death of a detainee, RFE/RL's Tajik Service reports.

Safarali Sangov died in hospital in March from severe injuries sustained in what his relatives say was a beating at a police station in Dushanbe's Sino district.

Police say Sangov committed suicide by jumping from a second-story set of stairs and, when he was then returned to an interrogation room, by repeatedly banging his head against a wall.

At today's hearing, Prosecutor Zainiddin Juraev announced that the defendants – former policemen Abdurahmon Yakubov and Kodir Hasanov – have been officially charged with negligence that led to Sangov's suicide. Both were dismissed from the police force after they were charged.

Juraev said the policemen did not handcuff Sangov with his hands behind his back, as required by regulations, but with his hands in front of him. That, Juraev continued, gave Sangov the opportunity to commit suicide as he was able to push away his police escort.

That statement profoundly upset Sangov's relatives, who were present in the courtroom.

They say several police officers participated in his arrest on March 1 and have suggested that more than two police officers may have been involved in the beating that led to his death.

They insist that Sangov was severely beaten and that his death was not suicide, but murder.

The trial started on June 2 but was adjourned until today after the prosecutor did not show up in the courtroom.

Link to original story on RFE/RL website

Topics: Police,