ld Report 2006 - Tajikistan, issued on 18 January 2006, reads as follows:
"In December 2004, Russian police arrested Mahmudi Iskandarov in Moscow at the request of Tajik authorities. The government had implicated Iskandarov - a vociferous critic of President Rakhmonov, presidential hopeful, and leader of the Tajik Democratic Party - in an attack on two government offices in Tojikobod in August 2004. Russian authorities released him on April 3, 2005, but he disappeared just two days later and eventually turned up in custody in Tajikistan. Iskandarov claimed that he had applied for refugee status after his initial release from Russian custody, but said that Russian police had kidnapped him off the street and transferred him to agents who flew him to Dushanbe. On October 5, 2005, after a trial that lasted more than two months, Iskandarov was found guilty on six counts, including terrorism and illegal possession of weapons. He was sentenced to twenty-three years in prison and fined 1.5 million soms (approximately U.S. 470,000 USD)."
92. The US Department of State 2005 Country Report on Human Rights Practices: Tajikistan, released on 8 March 2006, reads as follows:
"Beatings and mistreatment were also common in pre-trial detention facilities, and the government took minimal action against those responsible for the abuses (see Section 1.d.). Yoribek Ibrohimov "Shaykh" and Muhammadruzi Iskandarov both stated police beat them and subjected them to electric shocks while they were in custody. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) monitors were unable to investigate claims of torture against them and their associates and the government did not launch an official investigation.
...
Muhammadruzi Iskandarov, head of the Democratic Party of Tajikistan and former chairman of Tajikgaz, was returned to the country in April after his December 2004 detention in Moscow, under circumstances that appeared to be an extrajudicial rendition; Iskandarov was charged with violating eight articles of the criminal code including: banditry, terrorism, illegal possession of weapons, having an unauthorized bodyguard, and embezzlement. At the request of the Tajikistan General Prosecutor's Office, Russian authorities had taken Iskandarov into custody on an international arrest warrant, but found insufficient evidence to extradite him. On April 3, the Russian general prosecutor turned down an extradition request and released Iskandarov. He was subsequently kidnapped by unknown forces and on April 26, the Tajik prosecutor general announced Iskandarov was in pre-trial detention in Dushanbe. Iskandarov was denied immediate access to his family and an attorney (see section 1.e.). Iskandarov reported that he was tortured, injected with drugs, and electrocuted while in detention. He was sentenced to 23 years in prison. He is appealing to the Supreme Court. No date was set for the appeal trial by year's end."
93. The Declaration by the Presidency of the Council of the European Union on behalf of the European Union on the case of Mr Iskandarov in Tajikistan, done in Brussels on 22 March 2006 (7656/06 (Presse 86) P 050), reads as follows:
"The EU has closely followed the legal proceedings against Mr Mahmadruzi Iskandarov, leader of the opposition Democratic Party of Tajikistan, since his arrest in Moscow in December 2004.
The EU has taken note of his conviction and sentence to 23 years in prison on multiple charges by Tajikistan's Supreme Court on 5 October 2005, and the rejection of his appeal by the Collegium on Criminal Cases on 18 January 2006.
The EU is particularly concerned about the circumstances of Mr Iskandarov's transfer to and arrest in Tajikistan in April 2005, which remain unclear, and about the treatment Mr Iskandarov received during his pre-trial detention. Concerns were also raised by Mr Iskandarov's defence team about some aspe
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