Crossroads Asia | Politics | Central Asia

Man Convicted in Allamjonov Assassination Plot Dead by Suicide in Prison

According to RFE/RL’s Uzbek Service, Ismail Jahongirov – sentenced last year to 23 years in prison – died by suicide while in the prison’s solitary confinement unit.

One of the men convicted last year in a secretive military trial for involvement in the October 2024 attempted assassination of Komil Allamjonov, at the time a former Uzbek government official, reportedly died by suicide last week inside Penitentiary No. 13 in Chirchik, northeast of Tashkent.

According to RFE/RL’s Uzbek Service, Ozodlik, Ismail Jahongirov – sentenced last year to 23 years in prison – died by suicide while in the prison’s solitary confinement unit. According to Ozodlik’s source, on February 26 Jakhongirov used his own clothes to hang himself in his cell. Ozodlik spoke to Jahongirov’s relatives, who said the funeral was held on February 27. 

So far, the Uzbek authorities have not commented. 

On October 26, Allamjonov was the target of an apparent assassination attempt in Tashkent. Two individuals fired multiple gunshots at the car in which Allamjonov was traveling. No one was injured in the attack and the shooters escaped.

Allamjonov, until the end of September 2024, had been head of the Information Policy Department in Uzbekistan’s Presidential Administration, following several prominent posts in and adjacent to government, largely dealing with media. Allamjonov often worked alongside Saida Mirziyoyeva, the president’s eldest daughter. 

Over the course of 2024, Allamjonov had been subject to an online smear campaign, including rumors that he’d been fired and had fled abroad. In late September, he abruptly resigned. Weeks later, shots were fired and what appears to have been an internal struggle erupted into the headlines.

When the dust settled – after a bizarre confession by the shooters, arrests, an extradition from South Korea, and an initial shakeup in the security service – a trial went ahead in a military court. Its verdict was shared on February 12, 2025 by the Supreme Court. 

Jahongirov and Shokhrukh Akhmedov, who had been previously linked to an assassination attempt targeting critics of Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov in Turkiye in 2021, were each given a 23-year sentence. Shukhrat Rasulov, who also was given a 23-year sentence, had headed the Internal Security Department of the State Security Service from 2018 to 2020. Akhmedov had been reported as a bodyguard and driver for Javlon Yunusov, who was given an 18.5 year sentence. Yunusov had fled to South Korea and been extradited back to Uzbekistan to face trial. Kun.uz reported that Yunusov “acted as an intermediary between the mastermind and the perpetrators” of the attack.

Doniyor Tashkhodjaev, who was reportedly accused of attempting to conceal the crime and obstruct the investigation, was given a seven-year sentence. He had been, until his dismissal in the November 2025 security services purge, first deputy chief of the Main Department of Internal Affairs of Tashkent.

Uzbek authorities have never publicly identified a motive for the attack or the identity of its mastermind, but the implication of high level security officials suggests the involvement of powerful individuals. 

Given the secrecy of the trial, not much was reported about Jahongirov’s specific background, or how exactly he came to become entangled in the plot to assassinate Allamjonov. It is perhaps of little surprise that his death has revived the rumor mill, given the many unanswered questions.

As one Zamin.uz editor put it, “This isn’t just the death of a convicted prisoner, but the fate of one of the main defendants in a murder case that has caused widespread controversy across the country. Therefore, many are now expecting clear, open, and reliable explanations from official bodies.”

In June 2025, Allamjonov returned to the corridors of power in Tashkent, with his appointment as an independent advisor to Saida Mirziyoyeva, who had herself been appointed head of the Presidential Administration. Several months later, in November 2025, Allamjonov was appointed a counsellor-envoy at the embassy of Uzbekistan in Washington, D.C. to “improve coordination of foreign policy and state initiatives” on behalf of the presidential administration.

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One of the men convicted last year in a secretive military trial for involvement in the October 2024 attempted assassination of Komil Allamjonov, at the time a former Uzbek government official, reportedly died by suicide last week inside Penitentiary No. 13 in Chirchik, northeast of Tashkent.

According to RFE/RL’s Uzbek Service, Ozodlik, Ismail Jahongirov – sentenced last year to 23 years in prison – died by suicide while in the prison’s solitary confinement unit. According to Ozodlik’s source, on February 26 Jakhongirov used his own clothes to hang himself in his cell. Ozodlik spoke to Jahongirov’s relatives, who said the funeral was held on February 27. 

So far, the Uzbek authorities have not commented. 

On October 26, Allamjonov was the target of an apparent assassination attempt in Tashkent. Two individuals fired multiple gunshots at the car in which Allamjonov was traveling. No one was injured in the attack and the shooters escaped.

Allamjonov, until the end of September 2024, had been head of the Information Policy Department in Uzbekistan’s Presidential Administration, following several prominent posts in and adjacent to government, largely dealing with media. Allamjonov often worked alongside Saida Mirziyoyeva, the president’s eldest daughter. 

Over the course of 2024, Allamjonov had been subject to an online smear campaign, including rumors that he’d been fired and had fled abroad. In late September, he abruptly resigned. Weeks later, shots were fired and what appears to have been an internal struggle erupted into the headlines.

When the dust settled – after a bizarre confession by the shooters, arrests, an extradition from South Korea, and an initial shakeup in the security service – a trial went ahead in a military court. Its verdict was shared on February 12, 2025 by the Supreme Court. 

Jahongirov and Shokhrukh Akhmedov, who had been previously linked to an assassination attempt targeting critics of Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov in Turkiye in 2021, were each given a 23-year sentence. Shukhrat Rasulov, who also was given a 23-year sentence, had headed the Internal Security Department of the State Security Service from 2018 to 2020. Akhmedov had been reported as a bodyguard and driver for Javlon Yunusov, who was given an 18.5 year sentence. Yunusov had fled to South Korea and been extradited back to Uzbekistan to face trial. Kun.uz reported that Yunusov “acted as an intermediary between the mastermind and the perpetrators” of the attack.

Doniyor Tashkhodjaev, who was reportedly accused of attempting to conceal the crime and obstruct the investigation, was given a seven-year sentence. He had been, until his dismissal in the November 2025 security services purge, first deputy chief of the Main Department of Internal Affairs of Tashkent.

Uzbek authorities have never publicly identified a motive for the attack or the identity of its mastermind, but the implication of high level security officials suggests the involvement of powerful individuals. 

Given the secrecy of the trial, not much was reported about Jahongirov’s specific background, or how exactly he came to become entangled in the plot to assassinate Allamjonov. It is perhaps of little surprise that his death has revived the rumor mill, given the many unanswered questions.

As one Zamin.uz editor put it, “This isn’t just the death of a convicted prisoner, but the fate of one of the main defendants in a murder case that has caused widespread controversy across the country. Therefore, many are now expecting clear, open, and reliable explanations from official bodies.”

In June 2025, Allamjonov returned to the corridors of power in Tashkent, with his appointment as an independent advisor to Saida Mirziyoyeva, who had herself been appointed head of the Presidential Administration. Several months later, in November 2025, Allamjonov was appointed a counsellor-envoy at the embassy of Uzbekistan in Washington, D.C. to “improve coordination of foreign policy and state initiatives” on behalf of the presidential administration.

Catherine Putz is managing editor of The Diplomat.

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