"Human rights defence means for me activities aimed at the protection of human rights and freedoms from the arbitrariness of law enforcement. How did I get involved in the human rights defence? As a student of the Law Faculty of Tajik National University, I did an internship in courts of the country. There I first heard defendants in court telling that at the time of the arrest and the preliminary investigation, they had been beaten, torture had been used to extract confessions. But these statements were not effective anymore because during the preliminary investigation the defense had done nothing. And I decided for myself that I would become a human rights defender. So, after graduating in 2012 I became a practicing lawyer. I want to say that I am proud of my profession.”
