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Rights groups have condemned Turkmen authorities for the jailing of two journalists and a rights activist.
On Friday a Turkmen court in Ashgabat sentenced Ogulsapar Muradova, a local correspondent for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), and Annakurban Amanklychev, who worked for the French production company, Galaxie-Presse, to six and seven-year jail terms respectively for illegally possessing ammunition.
Sapardurdy Khajiev, a human rights activist with the Turkmen Helsinki Foundation (THF), was jailed for seven years in a high security prison for the same offence, according to Reporters Without Borders (RWB).
Tajigul Begmedova, head of the THF, said on Monday from the Bulgarian city of Varna, where the rights group is based, that everything related to the court process was “absurd” and based on “trumped up charges”.
Alexander Narodetsky, director of the US-funded RFE/RL’s Turkmen service, said from Prague that he could not understand why the trio had been convicted or what for.
"The charges and the verdicts are absolutely unclear for us. Where did they come from and how was it organised?" Narodetsky asked.
"Everything was happening behind the closed doors. There were no observers allowed and the whole thing was concluded very fast," he said.
Begmedova said the fact that the court hearings were held in secret again showed Turkmenistan’s government was not willing to “respect human rights or follow a democratic path".
Narodetsky said the Turkmen government often staged such trials to scare the public. The hearing reportedly lasted just a few minutes.
Jeff Trimble, RFE/RL’s acting president, condemned the trial as "a mockery of justice".
"RFE/RL protests Ogulsapar Muradova's sentence in the strongest terms, as we have protested her unjust imprisonment for more than two months."
Trimble said it would continue to fight for her release.
RWB said it was “disgusted” by the “absurd, unjust and disgraceful” lengthy prison sentences imposed on the journalists.
RWB said Turkmen “President-for-Life”, Saparmurat Nyazov, as part of a secret prosecution, had orchestrated the decision.
“Nyazov himself decides what prison sentences are to be handed down in a country where press freedom does not exist under a regime that is one of the most brutal in the world towards the media,” RWB said.
Meanwhile, the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) also criticised the sentencing.
Miklos Haraszti, OSCE's representative on freedom of the media, condemned the lack of transparency.
"Turkmenistan did not allow observers to monitor this case. The international community is right to worry that the defendants are in trouble because of their journalistic and human rights activities," Haraszti said.
Nyazov is on RWB's international list of 35 predators of press freedom, while Turkmenistan ranked 165 (third from the bottom) on its 2005 Worldwide Press Freedom Index. Only Eritrea and North Korea have a worse record.
AT/GS/DS
On Friday a Turkmen court in Ashgabat sentenced Ogulsapar Muradova, a local correspondent for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), and Annakurban Amanklychev, who worked for the French production company, Galaxie-Presse, to six and seven-year jail terms respectively for illegally possessing ammunition.
Sapardurdy Khajiev, a human rights activist with the Turkmen Helsinki Foundation (THF), was jailed for seven years in a high security prison for the same offence, according to Reporters Without Borders (RWB).
Tajigul Begmedova, head of the THF, said on Monday from the Bulgarian city of Varna, where the rights group is based, that everything related to the court process was “absurd” and based on “trumped up charges”.
Alexander Narodetsky, director of the US-funded RFE/RL’s Turkmen service, said from Prague that he could not understand why the trio had been convicted or what for.
"The charges and the verdicts are absolutely unclear for us. Where did they come from and how was it organised?" Narodetsky asked.
"Everything was happening behind the closed doors. There were no observers allowed and the whole thing was concluded very fast," he said.
Begmedova said the fact that the court hearings were held in secret again showed Turkmenistan’s government was not willing to “respect human rights or follow a democratic path".
Narodetsky said the Turkmen government often staged such trials to scare the public. The hearing reportedly lasted just a few minutes.
Jeff Trimble, RFE/RL’s acting president, condemned the trial as "a mockery of justice".
"RFE/RL protests Ogulsapar Muradova's sentence in the strongest terms, as we have protested her unjust imprisonment for more than two months."
Trimble said it would continue to fight for her release.
RWB said it was “disgusted” by the “absurd, unjust and disgraceful” lengthy prison sentences imposed on the journalists.
RWB said Turkmen “President-for-Life”, Saparmurat Nyazov, as part of a secret prosecution, had orchestrated the decision.
“Nyazov himself decides what prison sentences are to be handed down in a country where press freedom does not exist under a regime that is one of the most brutal in the world towards the media,” RWB said.
Meanwhile, the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) also criticised the sentencing.
Miklos Haraszti, OSCE's representative on freedom of the media, condemned the lack of transparency.
"Turkmenistan did not allow observers to monitor this case. The international community is right to worry that the defendants are in trouble because of their journalistic and human rights activities," Haraszti said.
Nyazov is on RWB's international list of 35 predators of press freedom, while Turkmenistan ranked 165 (third from the bottom) on its 2005 Worldwide Press Freedom Index. Only Eritrea and North Korea have a worse record.
AT/GS/DS
This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions
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