Karamkhudoyev’s lawyer says his client was tortured

Defense lawyer has finally been allowed to meet with Sherik Karamkhudoyev, the head of the Islamic Revival Party (IRP)’s organization for Khorog, who was detained during a special operation conducted in Gorno Badakhshan by government forces.

Lawyer Bobokhon Yoqubov met with his client in the detention facility of the State Committee for National Security (SCNS) in Dushanbe on September 25.

According to him, torture was used against his client during his detention in Khorog, the capital of the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region (GBAO) before the transportation to Dushanbe.

“My client says no torture has been used against him since August 4 when he was transported to the SCNS-run detention facility in Dushanbe.  Medical workers are visiting him in the detention center.”

The lawyer says criminal proceedings have been instituted against his client under the provisions of two articles of Tajikistan’s Penal Code: Article 187 – organizing a criminal group; and Article 195 – illegally bearing, possessing, and acquiring weapons.

“My client, however, maintains his innocence and denies all charges brought against him,” said Yoqubov.  “Karamkhudoyev says he was hiding in the artic of one of residential buildings in Khorog when a special operation was launched in the city on July 24 and he then voluntarily surrendered to the authorities.”

IRP reported Sherik Karamkhudoyev as missing on July 24, when government forces launched a massive military operation in Khorog against what it called “militants” following the murder of the regional security chief on July 21.

Two weeks after his disappearance, Karamkhudoyev was revealed to be held in the SCNS-run detention facility in Dushanbe.  A statement released by Freedom House notes that according to a reliable report, Karamkhudoyev has been subjected to torture while in detention.

Tajik law enforcement authorities claim that Karamkhudoyev allegedly collaborated with Imomnazar Imomnazarov, who was murdered by unknown assailants in his home in Khorog on August 22.