Ibragim Todashev’s Father Writes Open Letter to Obama, Releases Photos Surrounding Son’s Death [Warning: Graphic]
Abdul-Baki Todashev, the father of Ibragim Todashev, the Tamerlan Tsarnaev associate shot to death in his Orlando, Fla., apartment by a FBI agent in the company of two Massachusetts State Troopers in May, has released an open letter to President Obama calling for justice.
His letter includes photos of the bloodied Orlando apartment taken about a week and half after Ibragim was killed, images of his bullet-ridden body, and a photo of his knee following a surgery he had in March.
Federal prosecutors have officially stated the government’s contention that Todashev implicated Tamerlan Tsarnaev in a 2011 triple murder in Waltham. Anonymous FBI sources also told reporters that Todashev implicated himself in those murders, along with conflicting reports about how Todashev died.
In the letter, Abdul-Baki Todashev accuses FBI agents of deliberately killing and torturing his son (citing bruise marks near his left eye) and threatening and deporting his son’s acquaintances. Todashev asks the president to ensure that the FBI does not interfere with the independent investigation into his son’s death.
Earlier this year, Todashev’s live-in girlfriend, Tatiana Gruzdeva, was arrested and deported to Moscow. ICE officials told her she was deported for giving Boston magazine an interview. At the time of the interview, she was granted deferred action by ICE. It is unclear what the terms of her deferred action were. Ashurmamad Miraliev, a friend of Todashev, was denied repeated requests to an attorney during a six-hour interrogation with the FBI after his arrest according to the Florida chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR).
Abdul-Baki Todashev states in the letter:
“Did my son know that he had the right to remain silent or did he have rights at all, including the right to live? Being a citizen of another country he might not be aware of the laws as he was only 27 years old and wanted to live so much. No, they left no chances for him inflicting 13 gunshot wounds and multiple hematomas on his body. After what FBI agents have done to him whatever excuses they come up with nobody would believe them because my son is dead and cannot talk for himself. They did it deliberately so that he can never speak and never take part in court hearings. They put pressure on my son’s friends to prevent them from coming to the court and speaking the truth.
I rely on you, Mr. President, and hope that the prosecutor’s office and the court do not let the agencies conducting internal investigation on this case prevent the truth from coming to light so that at least some part of our grief, caused by the murder of our son, is relieved, and that the murderers stand trial instead of sit in their desk chairs.”
Florida State Attorney Jeffrey Ashton is currently conducting an investigation into the FBI killing. Earlier this month, he released a statement saying that he recently received additional information from the United States Department of Justice and would release the findings of his report early next year.
Below, the images released by Todashev. Warning: Some photos are extremely graphic.