Son Of Russian Lawyer For Andijon Refugees Found Dead
September 18, 2006
Official Uzbek figures say that 187 people died when the Uzbek government cracked down on antigovernment demonstrations in Andijon in May 2005; independent estimates suggest hundreds were killed. (epa)
PRAGUE, September 18, 2006 (RFE/RL) -- A Russian nongovernmental organization says the son of a lawyer who is representing a group of Uzbek and Kyrgyz nationals who are awaiting deportation to Uzbekistan has died in mysterious circumstances.
The Migration and Law NGO reports on its website Svetlana Martynova's 22-year-old son was found dead in the central Russian city of Ivanovo on September 14.
Authorities say Aleksandr Martynov died of an overdose. However, Martynova claims her son never took any drugs.
She says her son's face was so swollen and covered with bruises that she hardly recognized him.
One Kyrgyz and 12 Uzbek nationals have been awaiting extradition in an Ivanovo prison cell. Uzbekistan accuses them of helping organize antigovernment protests in Andijon in May 2005.
The Russian Prosecutor-General's Office last month ruled that they should be deported to Uzbekistan. It later suspended the procedure pending a ruling by the European Court of Human Rights.