Tajikistan’s prosecutor general has confirmed that a former senior investigator is in custody in connection with the death of 23-year-old Mehrona Noibova, whose body was found near the Pyanj River in April.
At a July 22 press conference, Prosecutor General Khabibullo Vokhidzoda said criminal proceedings had been opened against Firuz Saidzoda, formerly a senior investigator for especially important cases at the Prosecutor General’s Office. He said Saidzoda remained in detention while the investigation continued.
The case was opened under Article 109, Part 1 of Tajikistan’s Criminal Code, a provision which covers causing a person to take or attempt to take their own life through threats, cruel treatment, or systematic humiliation. It carries a prison sentence of three to five years. The authorities have not disclosed the conduct underlying the case or the evidence gathered against Saidzoda.
Noibova travelled with a group of friends to the Chorchaman resort in Darvoz district on April 3, according to local reports. She disappeared early the following morning. Her body was found on April 7 near the Pyanj River in the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region. The fast-flowing Patkunob River runs through the resort and joins the Pyanj nearby.
The Chorchaman resort in Darvoz district
Saidzoda and another Prosecutor General’s Office employee, Davlat Arabzoda, were among those on the trip. Vokhidzoda said Arabzoda had accompanied Saidzoda as a driver on a personal journey and was not involved in Noibova’s death.
Noibova’s family has challenged the account that she took her own life. In April, a family friend told Radio Ozodi that relatives were being pressed to accept that explanation and sign case documents. The allegation has not been independently verified, and the Prosecutor General’s Office did not publicly address it at the time.
Vokhidzoda’s remarks provide the first official confirmation that an employee of the Prosecutor General’s Office has been detained in connection with the case. The office has not released forensic findings, explained how Noibova entered the water, or specified what alleged threats, treatment, or humiliation formed the basis of the Article 109 investigation.
The Pyanj River on the road between Qal’ai Khumb and Shurabad; image: Stephen M. Bland
The authorities have also not announced when the investigation is expected to conclude, whether the case will be sent to trial, or which body is overseeing an inquiry involving one of the Prosecutor General’s Office’s own former investigators. No court has so far ruled on the allegation against Saidzoda.
If the case reaches trial, it will enter a judicial system in which acquittals are exceptionally rare. Tajikistan recorded one acquittal in the first half of 2026, after none in 2024 or 2025. As The Times of Central Asia reported in February, acquittals have accounted for well under 1% of criminal judgments in recent years. The authorities have not disclosed whether Saidzoda has entered a plea.
