By Shayne R. Burnham
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

TURKMENISTAN – Turkmen correspondents, Dovletmurat Yazguliev and Osman Hallyyev who report for Radio Free Europe Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), have been threatened and harassed by local intelligence officers in recent weeks.

According to RFE/RL, Yazguliez and his wife were interrogated by state authorities in a local administrative office and asked to stop working for RFE/RL last month.  If he did not quit, his family could lose their jobs or even face physical harm.

Yazguliev has worked for RFE/RL since October and despite threats and fear of imprisonment, Yazguliev still works for RFE/RL.  “I will do my utmost to continue working for democracy, for my people. I am not afraid of them,” Yazguliev told RFE/RL. “I am just concerned about the method they could use against my family members. I informed [the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe] about increased surveillance of my movements a month ago; however, I haven’t heard from this organization yet.”

Hallyev, a correspondent for RFE/RL since 2006, has been under house arrest since January.  As a result of his coverage of the parliamentary elections, his phone lines have been cut and his relatives have lost their jobs.

In 2006, a similar situation occurred to Turkmen correspondent Ogulsapar Muradova who, according to Reporters Without Borders, died “from blows she received in prison while serving a six-year sentence for helping a French TV journalist to prepare a report.”

Reporters Without Borders urges the Turkmen government to protect their journalists.  “Similar situations in the past have ended tragically, so we urge President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov to intervene at once,” Reporters Without Borders said. “If this has been done at the initiative of local officials, they must be brought to order. If not, we reiterate our appeal to the president to order the Turkmen security apparatus to stop treating journalists as enemies and criminals.”

For more information, please see:

EurasiaNet – Turkmenistan:  Authorities Intimidate RFERL Correspondent – 6 January 2009

Radio Free Europe Radio Liberty – RFE/RL Turkmen Correspondent Threatened – 5 January 2009

Reporters Without Borders – RFE/RL Provincial Correspondents Harassed and Threatened By Intelligence Officers – 8 January 2009