(GDF/IFEX) – The following is a 25 January 1999 GDF letter to Turkmenistan President S. Niyazov regarding a number of freedom of expression abuses: 25 January, 1999 Moscow S. Niyazov, President of the Republic of Turkmenistan Mr. President, We are obliged once again to appeal to you regarding a new incident connected with a violation […]
(GDF/IFEX) – The following is a 25 January 1999 GDF letter to Turkmenistan
President S. Niyazov regarding a number of freedom of expression abuses:
25 January, 1999
Moscow
S. Niyazov,
President of the Republic of Turkmenistan
Mr. President,
We are obliged once again to appeal to you regarding a new incident
connected with a violation of the right to freedom of expression.
On January 21, officers of the Committee for National Security (former KGB)
detained and delivered Vyacheslav Mamedov, leader of the Russian community
of Turkmenbashi city, to Ashkhabad for the second time. Among the charges he
is accused of: his interview with the Russian radio station Mayak that some
days later was called defamatory in public.
The first time, Vyacheslav Mamedov was detained by KNS officers at the
Ashkhabad airport in December 1998, having returned from Moscow. For several
days he was interrogated by chiefs of the country’s security services, and
the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan sent a protest note to the
Russian Embassy stating that Turkmenistan “reserves the right to take
measures of a political and legal character against the participants of the
interview.”
Unfortunately, lately, it is not the first action taken by the Turkmen
authorities to repress different trends of thought of any kind. Last
December, after the meeting with a delegation of the State Duma of Russia,
the authorities forced Nina Shmeleva, national TV editor, to quit. On April
20, 1998, Vitaly Ponomarev, Moscow independent journalist, was detained at
the airport in Ashkhabad. On October 30, 1997, Yenshan Annakurbanov, a
writer, journalist and part-time staff member of Radio Liberty’s Turkmen
section, was detained by security service officers at the same place before
his departure to Prague.
For the fifth year in a row, there is not one independent newspaper edition
in the country. Since October 1996, subscriptions to foreign, including
Russian, newspapers and magazines are absolutely prohibited for private
persons and non-governmental organisations. All these facts are evidence of
the Turkmen authorities’ unwillingness to observe principles of freedom of
the press and freedom of expression.
We urge you to immediately release Vyacheslav Mamedov and not to impede his
right to freely express his opinion, a right which is proclaimed in
international documents signed by you, Mr. President.
Alexei Simonov
President
Glasnost Defense Foundation
