Karamkhudoyev’s lawyer seeks to get copy of forensic examination findings

Ms. Zebo Qosimova, the defense lawyer of Sherik Karamkhudoyev, is seeking to get a copy of the forensic examination findings.

It was the defense lawyer that officially requested the forensic medical examination and it was carried out on October 4 in the presence of representatives of the State Committee for National Security (SCNS) and the Prosecutor-General’s Office.

According to the forensic examination findings, injuries on the body of Sherik Karamkhudoyev are not the result of torture; the injuries on his body were allegedly caused by fall.

Qosimova says that Sattor Sultonov, the investigator form the Prosecutor-General’s Office, had not allowed her to acquaint with the examination findings during a month.

“When I familiarized myself with the examination findings I asked the investigator to make a copy of them but he refused,” Qosimova said.

The lawyer lodged a complaint against the investigator to the Prosecutor-General’s Office on November 5, but the Prosecutor-General’s Office supported the investigator’s actions.

Ms. Qosimova denounced the Prosecutor-General’s Office’s decision and intends to appeal against that decision.

Sherik Karamkhudoyev is the head of the Islamic Revival Party (IRP)’s organization in Khorog and 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 detention facility of the State Committee for National Security (SCNS) 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.

Criminal proceedings have reportedly been instituted against Sherik Karamkhudoyev 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.

Manizha Shahbozbekova, wife of Sherik Karamkhudoyev, released an open letter to President Emomali Rahmon in early October requesting a meeting with him.  She notes that the lawyer hired by their family met with Sherik Karamkhudoyev and investigator of the operational group Fakhriddin Zubaydov on September 29.  Sherik Karamkhudoyev reportedly said that torture was used against him in Khorog before the transportation to Dushanbe.

“During the interrogation my husband said that officers from the SCNS’s office in Khorog put a sack over his head and beat him to extort a confession from.  During the meeting with the lawyer, my husband said that torture and psychological pressure were used against him and he insisted on carrying out forensic medical examination,” the letter says.

Sherik Karamkhudoyev says he was hiding in the garret 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 on July 29.