DUSHANBE, July 26, 2013, Asia-Plus – Some 7,000 Tajik nationals are serving their terms in prisons in the Russian Federation, an official source at the Penitentiary System, the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) said.

According to him, many of them have been convicted of drug-related crimes.

“Meanwhile 370 foreigners, primarily from Afghanistan and Iran are serving their terms in penal colonies in Tajikistan,” the source told Asia-Plus in an interview.

Over the first six months of this year, 30 persons have died in penal colonies in Tajikistan.  “29 of them died of tuberculosis and other diseases and one prisoner committed suicide following mental insanity,” the source said.