Crossroads Asia | Society | Central Asia

A Death in Detention Puts Tajikistan’s Police on Trial

Six Dushanbe officers face a rare prosecution over the death of Maksudjon Saidov in custody but none of them is charged with torture.

Tajikistan’s Supreme Court began hearing a criminal case on June 1 against six former police officers from Dushanbe’s Sino district, accused of involvement in the death in detention of 36-year-old Maksudjon Saidov. Two hearings have been held so far. Five defendants are present in court; the sixth has fled and is wanted. The proceedings are open, with relatives of the officers attending and four lawyers representing the defense.

Saidov, a resident of the southern city of Kulob, was detained on January 8 on suspicion of selling methamphetamine, a synthetic drug whose use has surged among young Tajiks, and transported to the capital for interrogation. He died in a police station days later. On January 12, his body was returned to his family with a request to bury him quickly; friends who spoke to RFE/RL’s Tajik Service, Radio Ozodi, on condition of anonymity said the body bore bruises and burns, and that authorities, fearing protests, asked the family to stay silent. Even Kulob’s own police department called the operation “a kind of arbitrariness,” since local law enforcement was never notified that Dushanbe officers were detaining a man on its territory.

After a four-month investigation, the officers stand charged with “intentional infliction of grave bodily harm” and “abuse of office.” Sources familiar with the case state that none of the six has been charged with torture, even though Tajikistan criminalized torture as a distinct offense under Article 143(1) of its criminal code back in 2012. Prosecutors have declined to comment on the case.

That a trial is happening at all is the anomaly. According to Justice Ministry data, only 13 people were convicted of torture in Tajikistan between 2018 and 2025, despite more than a hundred official complaints against police and security officers over the same period. The Coalition Against Torture, a civil society group, received 21 complaints in 2025 alone, all against the Interior Ministry, describing beatings, electric shocks,........

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