Sapardurdy Khadzhiev
NationalityTurkmenistani
Occupationhuman rights activist
OrganizationTurkmenistan Helsinki Foundation
Known for2006 arrest

Sapardurdy Khadzhiev is a Turkmenistani human rights activist who served a prison sentence in Turkmenbashi from 2006 to 2013. Amnesty International designated him a prisoner of conscience and named him a 2011 "priority case".[1]

Arrest and trial

Sapardurdy Khadzhiev is associated with Turkmenistan Helsinki Foundation (THF), an organization that publicized human rights violations in Turkmenistan. In June 2006, he was arrested along with Annakurban Amanklychev, another THF worker, and Khadzhiev's sister Ogulsapar Myradowa, a correspondent for Radio Liberty. The three were initially charged with spying for foreign intelligence services;[2] these charges were later changed to "the illegal acquisition, possession or sale of ammunition or firearms".[1] Amanklychev's family allege that law enforcement planted cartridges in his car to manufacture evidence.[2] Amnesty International, Front Line,[3] Reporters Without Borders,[4] and Human Rights Watch[5] have all described the charges as fabricated.

Imprisonment

Sapardurdy Khadzhiev and Annakurban Amanklychev were sentenced to seven-year prison terms.[1] Ogulsapar Muradova was sentenced to six years but died two weeks into her sentence; her children reported that one of her legs was broken, her arms bore evidence of injections, and marks on her body indicated she had been strangled.[2] Reporters Without Borders believes Amanklychev and Khadziev to currently be located in a high-security prison in Turkmenbashi known for poor conditions: "the region is extremely hot in the summer and bitterly cold in the winter, and inmates are forced to do agricultural work in such conditions... the inmates spend their time in filthy, overcrowded cells with no access to drinking water. The quality of what little food they receive is poor."[4]

On 11 December 2010, the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention called for the immediate release of Khadziev and Amanklychev, stating that their detention was a violation of international law.[6]

Amanklychev and Khaziev were released from prison on 16 February 2013, after nearly seven years imprisonment.[7]

References

  1. 1 2 3 "ANNAKURBAN AMANKLYCHEV AND SAPARDURDY KHADZHIEV, PRISONERS OF CONSCIENCE". Amnesty International. Archived from the original on 29 April 2011. Retrieved 18 April 2011.
  2. 1 2 3 Lucy Ash (21 December 2006). "Grim legacy of grandiose leader". BBC News. Retrieved 18 April 2011.
  3. ↑ "Fears for three Turkmen human rights defenders held incommunicado". Front Line. 3 August 2008. Retrieved 18 April 2011.
  4. 1 2 "Reporters Without Borders Concerned Over Conditions Faced by Turkmen Prisoners". Reporters Without Borders. 19 February 2009. Retrieved 18 April 2011.
  5. ↑ "Letter to President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov regarding human rights concerns in Turkmenistan". Human Rights Watch. 12 March 2009. Retrieved 18 April 2011.
  6. ↑ "United Nations declares Turkmenistan's detention of Annakurban Amanklychev and Sapardurdy Khadzhiev a violation of international law". Freedom Now. 11 December 2010. Archived from the original on 8 April 2011. Retrieved 18 April 2011.
  7. ↑ "Annakurban Amanklychev and Sapardurdy Khadzhiev | Freedom Now". www.freedom-now.org. Retrieved 2019-11-06.
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