Khujand, January 25, 2014, Asia-Plus --The Sughd regional court has rejected an appeal by two prison inmates who were sentenced over alleged prison-torture video.

“The appeal board of the Sughd regional court has upheld the Khujand city court’s verdict against to prison inmates Sadriddin Toshev and Sunatullo Rizoyev,” Toshev’s defense lawyer, Ms. Fayziniso Vohidova, told Asia-Plus in an interview.

According to her, Sunatullo Rizoyev will serve his term in a high-security penal colony in Khujand, while Sadriddin Toshev will be transported to a special regime penal colony in Qurghon Teppa, Khatlon province.

We recall that Sadriddin Toshev and Sunatullo Rizoyev received additional sentences in October 2013 in a case linked to allegations of prison torture.

Toshev and Rizoyev were found guilty of distributing false information and sentenced to seven and nine years in jail, respectively, on October 18, 2013.  They are accused of distributing videos showing injuries sustained by inmates after allegedly being beaten by prison guards.

They, however, say they are innocent.

Investigators say the videos are fabrications.

The videos were distributed after an inmate, Hamza Ikromzoda, died in a detention center in Dushanbe in September 2012.

Ikromzoda''s family members insist his body bore traces of torture, while an official autopsy said he had committed suicide.

Tajik human rights organizations have urged the government to thoroughly investigate suspicious deaths of inmates in custody.