A former senior member of the banned Islamic Renaissance Party of Tajikistan (IRPT) died in prison on August 12, his relatives said, prompting opposition members to accuse authorities of inhuman treatment of political opponents.
Authorities confirmed that Jaloliddin Mahmudov, 63, died in prison in Vahdat, a city some 23 kilometers east of the capital, Dushanbe, without giving a reason for his death.
Mahmudov's relatives said he suffered from bladder problems, high blood pressure, and diabetes, and hadn't been receiving proper medical care in detention.
The IRPT, an influential party with representatives in the government and parliament, was labeled a terrorist group and banned in 2015 by authoritarian President Emomali Rahmon.
Many IRPT officials and supporters have been prosecuted and many imprisoned, drawing criticism from human rights groups.
Mahmudov was first arrested in 2015 when he worked as a member of Central Commission for Elections and Referendums. He was charged with illegal possession of weapons and sentenced to five years in prison.
He was released from prison early in 2019 when his sentence was reduced under an amnesty.
But he was rearrested and sentenced to 6 1/2 years in prison in 2020 on charges of receiving money from wanted individuals. Human rights groups and Mahmudov's relatives called the charges politically motivated.
Following Mahmudov's burial on August 13, the National Alliance of Tajikistan (PMT), a group uniting several exiled opposition movements that was also outlawed by Tajik authorities as a terrorist and extremist organization, accused the government of inhuman treatment of political prisoners.
"The authorities deliberately create unbearable and inhuman conditions for prisoners, especially political prisoners," to eliminate them, the PMT said, calling on human rights groups to closely monitor the conditions of detention of political prisoners.