The Interior Ministry has published the list of inmates killed in a prison riot in Vahdat Township. Among them is Behrouz Gulmurod, the eldest son of Gulmurod Halimov, a form commander of the Tajik special police unit who joined the Islamic State (IS) terror group in 2015.
According to the list posted on the Interior Ministry’s website, 17 of those killed were convicted of membership in IS terror group, three others convicted of membership in Jamaat Ansarullah, two inmates convicted of membership in the Islamic Movement of Turkestan, one inmate convicted of drug trafficking, one inmate convicted of armed robbery and .
The list says three of the slain inmates were from the banned Islamic Renaissance Party of Tajikistan (IRPT).
The list says one of the slain inmates was Saidmahdikhon Sattorov, also known as Shaikh Temour, who was convicted of illegal land grabbing, polygamy, extortion, desecration of the dead and their burial places, and obstruction of the obtainment of compulsory basic education.
Recall, a statement released by the Justice Ministry on May 20 said five of the inmates were killed by fellow prisoners in the unrest while 24 rioters were liquidated and 35 others were detained during the authorities' measures to quell the riot.
In a statement, the ministry said that the clashes started when some 30 inmates convicted of membership in various militant groups killed three prison guards. The ministry said the inmates were armed with knives and other sharp objects.
They then allegedly turned their attention to their antagonists among the rest of the prison population.
In order to intimidate the other prisoners, the Islamic State members executed five people and ten others were savagely beaten, the statement said.
Among those said to have been executed by the rioters were Said Qiyomiddin Ghozi, also known as Eshoni Qiyomiddin, and Sattor Karimov, also known as Makhsumi Abdusattor.
Said Qiyomidin Ghozi was an active member of the Islamic Renascence Party of Tajikistan and he was sentenced to 25 years in prison in 2018.
Sattor Karimov was member of the IRPT Presidium and he was sentenced to 28 years in prison in 2016.
The rioters also executed Saidmahdikhon Sattorov, also known as Shaikh Temour, a mullah and self-styled “prophet of the end of the world” who was sentenced to 16 years in jail on July 8, 2015 on an array of counts, including extortion, polygamy and defiling corpses.
The statement said that one of the instigators of the riot was Behrouz Gulmurod, the eldest son of Gulmurod Halimov, a former commander of the Tajik special police unit who joined IS terror group in 2015.
The Justice Ministry also named a person called Fakhriddin Gulov, who was convicted to 26 years in prison in 2018 for alleged involvement in preparing terror attacks in Dushanbe, as a potential ringleader.
Other named leaders of the rioters were Mahmadullo Sharipov and Ruhullo Hasanov, but no details were provided.
Among the liquidated rioters was also named Alimurod Makhanov, who was sentenced to 21 years in prison on March 20, 2014 for involvement in preparing a series of explosions in Dushanbe on the threshold of presidential elections. He had reportedly been an active member of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan since 2011.
The statement added that the situation was now under control and that an investigation had been launched into the riot.
Many relatives of inmates gathered near the Vahdat high-security penal colony on the morning of May 20 and were waiting for information. Some of them received the bodies of their slain relatives for burial,
The riot broke out at the Vahdat high-security penal colony, some 15 kilometers east of the capital, Dushanbe, on May 19, claiming 32 fatalities among guards and prisoners.
In November 2018, a riot broke out in a high-security penal colony in the northern city of Khujand. Officials said 21 prisoners and two prison guards were killed in that incident.
The prison riot in Vahdat comes as some 30 inmates from the Khujand prison were on trial behind closed doors for alleged participation in the November riot. Prosecutors have asked for prison sentences of 10 to 20 years for the suspects.
Руcский