Relatives of Makhmadali Khait were denied a meeting with the prisoner

Relatives of the convicted Deputy Chairman of the Islamic Revival Party of Tajikistan, Mahmadali Hait, have been denied a meeting with him. This was reported by Radio Ozodi.

Photo: Internet

In the pre-trial detention center No. 1 in Dushanbe, relatives of the inmate were informed that the meeting was canceled because Mahmadali Hait allegedly violated prison regulations. Previously, meetings with relatives occurred once every six months.

“We were told that he violated prison regulations. When we asked what the violation was, they did not answer. A detention center employee said that the meeting was canceled,” said Mahmadali Hait’s wife, Savriniso Djurabekova.

Earlier, a source in the Main Department for the Execution of Criminal Sentences reported that Hait’s relatives were allowed to meet with him. Despite the fact that the Main Department for the Execution of Criminal Sentences permitted Mahmadali Hait’s wife to meet with her husband, detention center staff denied her the meeting.

Savriniso Djurabekova confirmed that the Main Department for the Execution of Criminal Sentences allowed the meeting, but they were denied a meeting at the detention center itself.

Mahmadali Hait’s family met with him on May 22 at detention center No. 1 in Dushanbe. During the meeting, which takes place once every six months, Mahmadali Hait asked his wife to convey three of his requests to the head of the Main Department for the Execution of Criminal Sentences, Mansur Umarov, including a request to be transferred to a cell with another political prisoner, Deputy Chairman of the IRPT, Saidumar Khusayni. He mentioned that a convicted murderer had been transferred to his cell and was always looking for a reason to start a conflict with Mahmadali. However, the leadership of the Main Department for the Execution of Criminal Sentences rejected Hait’s request.

Mahmadali Hait, along with other members of the IRPT, was detained by Tajik law enforcement agencies in 2015. In 2016, he was convicted on 14 counts of the Criminal Code of Tajikistan and sentenced to life imprisonment.

Several international human rights organizations, including the UN, have called on the Tajik government to immediately and unconditionally release members of the IRPT, particularly Mahmadali Hait, but the Tajik government has refused to comply with the demands of human rights organizations.

This summer, the human rights organization Freedom Now, which defends the rights of political prisoners, informed Azda TV that, in collaboration with Hogan Lovells, they filed a complaint with the UN Human Rights Committee regarding the violation of Mahmadali Hait’s rights. At the same time, they demanded that the UN Committee take action, as by imprisoning Mahmadali Hait, the Tajik government violated its obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

Simultaneously, Freedom Now called on the UN Human Rights Committee to once again demand the immediate and unconditional release of Mahmadali Hait from the Tajik government.