DUSHANBE, January 16, Asia-Plus  -- Ii is quite legal that former Interior Minister Yoqub Salimov is still being held in the Justice Ministry-run prison cell, Justice Minister Bakhtiyor Khudoyorv remarked at a news conference in Dushanbe on January 16 with reference to the country’s criminal penalty execution code.

Commenting on this subject, Deputy Justice Minister, Azizmat Imomov, noted that court but not the justice ministry hands down ruling on place where convict should be held.      

In the meantime, relatives of Yoqub Salimov on December 24, 2007 applied to a number of media asking to publish an open letter to President Emomali Rahmon, in which they say that Salimov is still being illegally held in the Justice Ministry prison cell.  The letter, in particular, says that in September 2007, they applied to the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) with solicitation to clarify reason for the fact that Yoqub Salimov has not yet been transferred to a penal colony.  However, they have not yet received response to their application.   

Shokirjon Hakimov, member of Tajik Legal Consortium, noted that the fact that Yoqub Salimov is still being held in the MoJ-run prison cell is in contrary to the country’s legislation because by a court ruling he should serve his jail sentence in a penal colony. 

We will recall that the Supreme Court on April 25, 2005 ruled that Yoqub Salimov be given a term of 15 years in jail and that he should serve it in a high-security penal colony.  Salimov appealed to the Supreme Court to overturn his guilty verdict and 15-year sentence for treason.