DUSHANBE, November 13, 2013, Asia-Plus – Cell phone jamming devices have reportedly been installed in Tajik prisons.

An official source at the Main Directorate for Correctional Works, the Ministry of Justice of Tajikistan says that measure has been taken in order to ensure security during the presidential election in the country.

According to him, the cell phone jamming devices will work in penitentiary institutions until the Tajikistan’s Presidential Inauguration swearing-in ceremony that will take place on November 16.

The Main Directorate for Correctional Works is responsible for managing the prison system in Tajikistan and has been part of the Ministry of Justice since 2002.  Its 18 penitentiary institutions include eight correctional colonies (including one colony for women and one colony for juveniles), one prison and five pre-trial detention centers.  There are also three regional units responsible for the execution of non-custodial sanctions.

We will recall that two prison inmates in the Tajik northern Sughd province received additional sentences in a case linked to allegations of prison torture.  Sadriddin Toshev and Sunattulo Rizoyev were found guilty of distributing false information and sentenced to seven and nine years in jail, respectively, on October 18.  Toshev and Rizoyev are accused of distributing videos showing injuries sustained by inmates after allegedly being beaten by prison guards.  They 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.

Meanwhile, Tajik online news portal Ozodagon ( www.ozodago.com ), its Russian site (www.catoday.org) and YouTube that were blocked by some Internet providers in Tajikistan on November 4 are now available again.