Bachajonov’s widow receives compensation of 30,000 somoni

The Main Directorate for Execution of Punishments under the Ministry of Justice has reportedly paid 30,000 somoni (equivalent to more than 6,000 USD) compensation to Savrinisso Gulova, the widow of Ismoil Bachajonov, who died in mysterious circumstances in pretrial detention facility in 2011 after being beaten, for survivor’s loss, according to the Independent Human Rights Center.

Lawyers from the Independent Human Rights Center represented Ms. Savrinisso Gulova in the court.

The final verdict was announced on March 4.  The Center lawyers Abdurahmon Sharipov and Sergey Romanov say the sides have reached an amicable agreement and the respondent has paid 30,000 somoni to the plaintiff in compensation for survivor’s loss.  The money will go to paying for the necessary correction measures for Gulova and her three underage children, the lawyers said.   

We will recall that Ismoil Bachajonov, 32, was sentenced to 6½ years in prison in 2009 for drug trafficking.  He was serving his term in a medium-security penal colony but in 2011 the medium-security regime was reportedly changed to the prison regime for systematic violation of regime of serving his sentence.  He was taken to Dushanbe’s pretrial detention facility for further transportation under guard to the prison, where he died in June 2011 after reportedly being beaten.

The Prosecutor-General’s Office launched an investigation into the death of Bachajonov under the provisions of Article 110 of Tajikistan’s Penal Code – deliberate infliction of serious bodily injury.  Under this article, a beating with a lethal outcome is punishable by five to eleven years in jail.

Three officers from the pretrial facility were detained for involvement in that incident and they were sentenced to various jail terms.

Ms. Savrinisso lodged an application to a court in Dushanbe’s Ismoili Somoni district in April 2012, demanding 655,000 somoni (equal to 105,000 euros) in compensation for survivor’s loss.  The respondent was the Main Directorate for Execution of Punishments under the Ministry of Justice and the third party was the Ministry of Finance.