The Ministry of Interior will pay compensation to Sangov's widow

The court ordered the Interior Ministry of Tajikistan to pay compensation to the widow of Safarali Sangov resident of Dushanbe, who according to his family, died as a result of beatings and torture at the police station.

This unprecedented case in the country’s court practice was reported to NoTorture.Tj by the victim’s lawyer Gulchekhra Holmatova, whose services were donated by the Bureau of Human Rights and Rule of Law.

According to her the compensation claim for moral and material damages in the amount of 150 thousand somoni was filed by Sangov’s widow against the Interior Ministry of Tajikistan.

“The Court, having considered all the necessary evidences ordered the law enforcement agency to pay the 46.5 thousand somoni (about $ 10 000) to the victim’s family” - said Holmatova. The lawyer also noted that the court decision will be enforced on April 5, in case it will not be appealed by the defendant.

It should be recalled that in October 2012, the two former police officers accused in Sangov’s death were pardoned. The Prosecutor’ s office of Dushanbe ordered to discontinue the proceedings in due to the act of amnesty in regard of the former senior police officers of the Criminal Investigation Unit of the capital Police Dematremet of Sino-1 Abdurakhmon Yakubov and Qodir  Khasanov,

The lawsuit against these two police officers started in June 2012. Earlier in March 2012 they detained a 37-years-old resident of the Dushanbe Safarali Sangov in suspection of drug trafficking. However, the same day he was taken from the police station to the Department of intensive care of local hospital, where he died few days later without regaining consciousness. His relatives state that he was taken to hospital as a result of being severely beaten at the police station. The opposite version was put forward by the law enforcement agencies: Sangov allegedly committed suicide by jumping from a ladder at an Interior Ministry building and hit his head against the wall.

This case received widespread publicity. In particular the Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and the Bureau for Human Rights and Rule of Law in Tajikistan issued a joint statement in which they expressed their concern about the circumstances of Safarali Sangov death and urged the authorities to thoroughly investigate the facts.

It should also be recalled that in March of this year, the widow of Ismoil Bachadzhonov  who died in 2011 after being beaten in SIZO of Ministry of Justice, received compensation for the loss of a breadwinner of total 30 000  somoni (over $ 6 000) from the representative of the Main Directorate for Punishment Implementation of the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Tajikistan under the settlement agreement.

Bachadzhonov’s widow was represented in the by lawyers from the Independent Center for Human Rights Protection. Representative of the defendant side asked for a settlement agreement under the condition of paying part of the amount of compensation claimed by the suit, while explaining the plaintiff that the defendant is not able to satisfy the claim in full, which is more than 655 thousand somoni. This proposal was accepted by the plaintiff.