Shehroziddin Bahriddinov was born on April 29, 1999 and lived in Mingtepa mahalla of Urgut district, Samarkand region. He was performing military service in one of the military units in Tashkent. The young man who joined the army on March 14 died on June 27, 2023, at the age of 24.

Event chronology

According to the official document, Shehroziddin Bahridddinov, who is serving in the military unit of the MES, applied to the medical center of the military unit on June 20 with a complaint of a sore throat. Outpatient treatment (sucking tablet and gargling in furacillin) was recommended to him. Two days later, the soldier came to the medical center with complaints of a sore throat and headache, and outpatient treatment was recommended to him.

On June 25 and 26, he applied to the medical center of the military unit and said that he was suffering from headache and back pain, sweating, and frequent breathing. Although the soldier’s complaints were increasing day by day, the doctors of the military unit recommended him to receive outpatient treatment.

On June 26, the soldier, whose condition worsened, was brought to the Central Military Clinical Hospital of the Ministry of Defense, connected to the artificial pulmonary ventilation (UPV) apparatus in masked SPAP mode, and immediately admitted to the intensive care unit. It is noted in the documents that he was brought to the hospital at 11:30 with complaints such as severe pain in the epigastric area of the chest and abdomen, frequent breathing, and an increase in body temperature.

Due to the detection of free fluid in bilateral pleural spaces, “Thoracentesis, drainage of left and right pleural spaces” surgical procedures were performed to expand the lung parenchyma, to determine the etiology of pleurisy. During the operation, 1700 ml of purulent hemorrhagic discharge was obtained from the pleural cavity of the right lung, and 1200 ml of lysed hemorrhagic discharge (fluid) from the left. However, the patient did not survive the surgery. On June 27 at 13:30, the patient was declared biologically dead.

The death certificate states that the cause of death of Shehroziddin Bahriddinov was pneumonia of unknown cause.

In the conclusion of the examination completed on July 13 by the Center for Forensic Medicine of the Armed Forces, bilateral viral-bacterial pneumonia, infectious-toxic shock, bilateral fibrinous purulent-hemorrhagic pleurisy, pleural empyema, sepsis, septicemia, acute septic hyperplasia of the spleen, acute respiratory distress syndrome, DVS syndrome (hemorrhages in the skin coverings of the body, serous and mucous membranes of internal organs), bifurcation lymph nodes acute hyperplasia, toxic-septic myocarditis, hepatitis, nephritis, serous meningitis, acute general venous congestion and parenchymatous dystrophy of internal organs, cerebral edema and swelling, acute intestinal dynamic (paralytic) seizure, acute steroid-induced diabetes and multiple-organ failure caused by complications of these diseases are cited as the cause.

Relatives of the deceased are asking for evidence

In an interview with Kun.uz, Erkin Kodirov, the brother of the deceased soldier, said that on the evening of June 26, the military called him and told that his brother is unwell and is now in the hospital.

“They asked us to come to Tashkent immediately. When we got there, he was in a coma. People in the hospital say that water has collected in his lungs, and his lungs have suppurated. It is diagnosed as unknown pneumonia.

What he died of remains a mystery. The skin in the waist area, above the kidney, was shriveled. When we asked about the reason, they said that my deceased brother was not beaten, the doctors gave the wrong medicine, and as a result, blisters were formed. In addition, there was a tear in the inside of his mouth,” Erkin Kodirov said in an interview with a Kun.uz reporter.

It should be noted that according to the expert opinion of the Center of Forensic Medicine of the Armed Forces, the wound on the outer corner of the upper and lower lip of the deceased was caused by a hard blunt object, and according to the time and condition of the formation, it may have occurred a day before the death of the patient, that is, during the provision of medical care. When Bahriddinov’s body was examined during the forensic examination, the body of the deceased did not have any signs of physical injuries typical of struggle and resistance.

“We spoke with the commanders of the group and battalion where my son served. They said that Shehroziddin first complained of a sore throat and was given medicine for a sore throat. Then he had a headache, they gave him a medicine for headache. Later, while he was standing in line, he lost consciousness and collapsed.

But we don’t believe it. Because my son was a very healthy young man. Before going to military service, he was never seriously ill, he did not have any serious illness. That’s why he easily passed the medical examinations before joining the army. He did not bribe or use other illegal means to pass examinations. He told us that he was going to military service only after passing all the tests.

On the afternoon of June 24, he called his second brother and talked. During the conversation, there were no signs of illness in his voice, for example, hoarseness, difficulty breathing. He talked as usual. He didn’t even say that he was a bit sick, had a headache or a sore throat. They say they took more than 2.5 liters of fluid from his lungs. A person with such amount of water and pus in his lungs gasps, hardly speaks, the patient should not be able to speak in such a condition. We are not satisfied with the conclusion of the expert opinion, the situation should be re-investigated impartially,” Nizomiddin Kodirov, the father of the deceased, said.

According to relatives of the deceased, the battalion commander told them on Sunday (June 25) that Shehroziddin felt sick, and when he fell into a coma, they informed his family about it on the evening of June 26. Questions about why the young soldier was kept in the military unit until he fainted in the line, and why he was not taken to the hospital earlier, remain open.

“In order to make sure that the events were as my brother’s commanders said, we asked to show the video footage showing that Shehroziddin really lost consciousness in the line, after that he was carried to the medical center of the military unit, and before he fell, he asked the doctors of the military unit for medicine.

When we see these images, the fire in our hearts will slightly decrease. However, these processes were not recorded by any camera. They only have camera footage of the soldiers going in and out of the kitchen, but they said it can be presented with the permission of leaders.

His commanders said that my brother slept under the air conditioner after taking a bath. His bed was under the air conditioner. Okay, show me the camera footage from the soldiers’ dormitory, we would like to see his bedspace under the air conditioner. It is said that there is no camera installed in this place. At least let them show the images of him entering the hospital. There is no single evidence to confirm the commanders’ words, so that we can have little consolation,” Erkin Kodirov concluded.