TURKMENISTAN: Pastor freed, other religious prisoners of conscience remain jailed

By Felix Corley, Forum 18 News Service

Nearly 18 months after his August 2010 arrest in Turkmenistan, Protestant pastor Ilmurad Nurliev was among a group of about 230 prisoners freed under amnesty on 18 February from a labour camp. “He and the other prisoners were brought by special police train to Mary, and we rushed to the station to meet him,” his wife Maya told Forum 18 News Service. “His release was so unexpected we forgot to get flowers. It is such a joy I can’t tell you.” He was given a four-year prison sentence in October 2010 on charges of swindling, which members of his congregation insist were fabricated to punish him for leading his unregistered church. Pastor Nurliev only learnt he would be amnestied on the previous evening. “I want to thank you and everyone else who supported me and helped my release”, he told Forum 18. He will have to live under restrictions, reporting weekly to the police. It appears that none of the six Jehovah’s Witness prisoners or the two Jehovah’s Witnesses serving suspended sentences were included in the amnesty. Pastor Nurliev expressed concern over several Muslim prisoners in Seydi who might have been imprisoned for their faith.

Nearly 18 months after his arrest, Protestant pastor Ilmurad Nurliev was among a group of about 230 prisoners freed under amnesty on 18 February from the labour camp in the desert near Seydi in Turkmenistan’s eastern Lebap Region… It appears that none of the six Jehovah’s Witness prisoners or the two Jehovah’s Witnesses serving suspended sentences were included in the amnesty.

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Pastor Nurliev said that the five Jehovah’s Witness prisoners held in the Seydi camp – all conscientious objectors – were not freed under amnesty. Jehovah’s Witness told Forum 18 on 20 February that they too had no information that any of their prisoners had been amnestied.

The telephone of Gurbanberdy Nursakhatov, Deputy Chair of the government’s Gengesh (Council) for Religious Affairs in Ashgabad, went unanswered on 20 February. Also unanswered when Forum 18 called was the telephone of Pirnazar Hudainazarov, the Chair of the Mejlis (Parliament) Committee on the Protection of Human Rights and Freedoms.

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Religious prisoners of conscience

In addition to the Muslim possible religious prisoners of conscience in Seydi, all six current known religious prisoners of conscience are Jehovah’s Witnesses. Five of them – all being held in the Seydi labour camp – have been imprisoned for refusing compulsory military service under Criminal Code Article 219, Part 1. They are: Ahmet Hudaybergenov, 18 months, Turkmenabad Court, September 2010; Sunet Japbarov, 18 months, Turkmenabad Court, December 2010; Matkarim Aminov, 18 months, Dashoguz Court, December 2010; Dovran Matyakubov, 18 months, Dashoguz Court, December 2010; and Mahmud Hudaybergenov, 2 years, Dashoguz Court, August 2011 (see F18News 16 February 2012 http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=1668).

The sixth Jehovah’s Witness prisoner of conscience is Ashgabad resident Vladimir Nuryllayev. Arrested in November 2011, several weeks after police seized his religious literature and his computer, he was accused of “spreading pornography” under Criminal Code Article 164, Part 2. He was tried on 18 January 2012 at Ashgabad’s Azatlyk District Court, found guilty and sentenced to four years’ imprisonment. His appeal was rejected at a 10-minute hearing at Ashgabad City Court on 14 February. Nuryllayev’s fellow Jehovah’s Witnesses insist he is innocent of the accusations, which they say were brought to punish him for his religious affiliation (see F18News 16 February 2012 http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=1668).

The address of Seydi Labour Camp is: Turkmenistan, 746222 Lebap vilayet, Seydi, uchr. LB-K/12

Two Jehovah’s Witness conscientious objectors are serving suspended sentences. At what one fellow Jehovah’s Witness described to Forum 18 as a “show trial”, Akmurad Nurjanov was given a one-year suspended prison sentence on 13 February at Ashgabad’s Azatlyk District Court (see F18News 16 February 2012 http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=1668).

Also believed to be still serving a suspended sentence is Denis Petrenko, given a two year suspended sentence in Ashgabad in April 2010. He was required to live at home under some restrictions, including reporting regularly to the authorities (see F18News 29 April 2011 http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=1566).

An unverified report indicates that a Muslim may have been imprisoned in 2011 on charges of “spreading pornography” for distributing religious discs. The same charge was used against Jehovah’s Witness Vladimir Nuryllayev, apparently because the police found religious literature in a cupboard in his flat, and who his community firmly insist is innocent of the charge (see F18News 25 January 2012 http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=1660).

Source: www.forum18.org