Former Tajik Interior Minister Dies During Police Raid
Mahmadnazar Solehov: suicide or slaying?
June 18, 2009
DUSHANBE (RFE/RL) -- A former Tajik interior minister, Mahmadnazar Solehov, has been found dead after he resisted detention by armed law enforcement officers who raided his home, RFE/RL's Tajik Service reports.
Solehov's son, Hudoynazar, told RFE/RL that the men arrived at his father's house claiming they were going to arrest him.
He said he heard a gunshot during an argument behind closed doors between his father and the intruders and when he rushed into the room, he found his father dead.
Tajik officials insist that Solehov committed suicide.
The Tajik Interior Ministry has said Solehov was officially accused of abuse of power and conspiracy, and he had been summoned to the Prosecutor-General's Office several times in recent months but never shown up.
Prosecutors issued an arrest warrant for Solehov, including the use of force.
Solehov was sacked in January after two years as Tajikistan's interior minister.