Relatives of man who died after police custody demand fresh autopsy by independent forensic experts

Relatives of man who died in Dushanbe after one-day police custody demand a fresh autopsy by forensic experts from Tajikistan’s Ministry of Defense or Russian military base deployed in Tajikistan.

Abdusamad Nazarov, the brother of Abdurasoul Nazarov who died in Dushanbe on March 29 after one-day police custody, says his brother’s body was exhumed on April 7 following their demand.

“But the exhumation was carried out by the same experts who had prepared the previous medical certificate of cause of death of my brother,” Abdusamad Nazarov said.  “They said the certificate will be submitted to the Dushanbe prosecutor’s office, but I do not believe that they will tell the prosecutor’s office anything new.”

“The Dushanbe prosecutor’s office has not yet instituted criminal proceedings over the death of my brother.  We want forensic experts from Tajikistan’s Ministry of Defense or Russian military base deployed in Tajikistan to conduct a fresh autopsy,” Abdusamad Nazarov told Asia-Plus in an interview.  

Abdurasoul Nazarov’s relatives also deny that he was drug addict and they have an appropriate document on this subject from the Kulob narcology center.  

Recall, the Interior Ministry on April 4 launched an internal investigation into the death of Abdurasoul Nazarov to establish whether officers from Dushanbe’s Sino-2 police station are really guilty of the death of Abdurasoul Nazarov or not.  

As it had been reported earlier, resident of the city of Kulob, Abdurasoul Nazarov, who was temporarily living with his family in Dushanbe, was detained by officers from police station Sino-2 in Dushanbe’s Sino district on March 28 on suspicion of being involved in drug trafficking.

On March 29, police officers took Nazarov to the Qariyai Bolo Hospital.  Meanwhile a source at the Qariyai Bolo Hospital says Nazarov was already dead when police officers were taking him to the hospital. 

An official source at the law enforcement authorities says Nazarov had a heart attack when he was taken to the police station and he died on the way to the hospital.

Meanwhile, Nazarov’s wife, Sadbarg Bobokhonova, says there were traces of beating on her husband’s body.  Nazarov’s relatives say they have made photos of traces of torture on his body.    

The Dushanbe chief prosecutor’s office has launched an investigation into the death of Abdurasoul Nazarov. 

Radio Liberty’s Tajik Service, locally known as Radio Ozodi, on March 30 quoted a source at the investigative bodies as saying, “The preliminary examination has established that Abdurasoul Nazarov’s heart stopped because of overdose.”  “But this is just a preliminary conclusion. Investigation is under way and the final conclusion will be announced later,” the source added.