Subject: [CivilSoc] Turkmen Critics Recant, Pledge Loyalty to Regime
From: Center for Civil Society International (ccsi@u.washington.edu)
Date: Sat Dec 30 2000 - 15:56:55 EST
From: NazarM@rferl.org
Official media in Turkmenistan broadcast the repentance speeches of
two prominent regime critics currently in prison, Nurberdy Nurmamedov
and Pirimguli Tangrykuliev. In speeches aired on Turkmen State
Television on the night of 15 December and in the morning on 16
December, the two men acknowledged their wrongdoing and swore their
fealty to the motherland and its leader, Turkmen President Saparmurat
Niyazov. The timing of the broadcast suggests the two opposition
figures may be included in a planned amnesty of 10,000 convicts in
the last week of December.
''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
Turkmen Dissidents on the Road to Amnesty?
RFE/RL Turkmen Service, Special Report
December 16, 2000
Official media in Turkmenistan last night broadcast the
repentance speeches of two prominent regime critics currently in
prison, suggesting that the authorities may be preparing to release
them.
In statements aired on Turkmen State Television on the night of
15 December and in the morning on 16 December, the two men, Nurberdy
Nurmamedov and Pirimguli Tangrykuliev, acknowledged their wrongdoing
and swore their loyalty to the motherland and its leader, Turkmen
President Saparmurat Niyazov.
Observers in and out of Turkmenistan believe that the statements
were aired to lay the groundwork for the release of the two
dissidents along with others in an amnesty planned for later this
month.
Turkmen President Niyazov has pledged to amnesty 10,000 convicts
on the Muslim holy night of Kadir, when magnanimity is traditionally
shown. Kadir falls on the night of 22-23 December, three days before
the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
Both men are acknowledged opposition figures whose cases have
drawn international attention from human rights organizations and
international organizations.
The 57-year old Nurmamedov was a prominent activist in the
Turkmen opposition movement Agzybirlik, a pro-democratic group that
the authorities refused to register after it emerged in 1989. He has
been serving a 5-year prison term on charges of hooliganism and
conspiracy to commit murder since January 5, 1999. His arrest
followed shortly after he made public statements in the run up to
parliamentary elections that Turkmenistan?s post-Soviet constitution
was contradiction-ridden and granted the president too much power.
Tangrykuliev, a medical doctor, has been in jail serving an
8-year prison term for misappropriating state funds and property
since July 29, 1998. He was detained after he wrote directly to
President Niyazov complaining about the country?s health-care system
and told representatives of the Organization for Cooperation and
Security in Europe that he planned to run for parliament.
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