Tajik Interior Ministry will pay compensation to the widow of Safarali Sangov

The Collegium for Civil Cases of the city court of Dushanbe upheld the decision of the Sino district court on compensation to the widow of Dushanbe resident Safarali Sangov, who according to his family, died as a result of beatings and torture at the police station. The main defendant on this case is the Ministry of Interior, which will pay the compensation in the amount of 46.5 thousand Somoni ($ 1 = 4.75 TJS).

This was information was provided by the victim’s lawyer  Gulchekhra Holmatova whose services were donated by the Bureau of Human Rights and Rule of Law. 

The statement with the claim for compensation for moral and material damages in the amount of 150 thousand Somoni was filed by the widow of Sangov. The Court, having considered all the relevant evidences, ordered the law enforcement agency to pay 46.5 thousand Somoni to the victim’s family. However, the court's decision was appealed by the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Tajikistan which refused to pay compensation. 

In October 2012, two former police officers accused in the death of Sangov were amnestied. It is about two former senior officer of the Criminal Investigation Department of Sina-1 district OMVD Abdurahmon Yakubov and Kodir Khasanov in respect of whom the prosecutor's office of Dushanbe ordered to discontinue the criminal proceedings in connection with the application of the amnesty. 

We would like to recall that the trial against Abdurahmon Yakubov and Kodir Khasanov began in June last year. In March of 2012, they detained a 37-year-old resident of the capital Safarali Sangov, who was suspected of drug trafficking. However, the same day he got out of the police department to intensive care ward where he died a few days later without regaining to conscionusness. His relatives say he was taken to hospital as a result of severe beatings at the police station, while the law enforcement authorities state that Sangov allegedly committed suicide by throwing himself down the stairs and hitting his head against the wall. 

The case received wide publicity. In particular, international human rights organization Amnesty International and the Bureau for Human Rights rule of law in Tajikistan issued a joint statement in which they expressed their concern about the circumstances of the death Safarali Sangov and urged the authorities to thoroughly investigate the facts.