Journalist Soltan Achilova barred from exiting Turkmenistan

On 11 March a journalist Gurbansoltan Achilova was scheduled to take the Ashgabat-Tbilisi flight operated by Turkish Airlines. She checked in for the flight ТК323, bound to Istanbul at 4:20 a.m. local time. She was subsequently scheduled to depart to Tbilisi to attend an international seminar.

However, when going through the passport control procedure, her passport was confiscated and she was asked to wait. Half an hour later an officer of the Migration Service returned her ID and said that she is not allowed to leave Turkmenistan.

It appears that Gurbansoltan Achilova was included in the so-called “black list” of those who are barred from exiting Turkmenistan.

Gurbansoltan Achilova is one of the independent journalists who openly work in Turkmenistan. Due to her professional activities she has been repeatedly subjected to an onslaught of physical assaults, intimidation and threats by unidentified individuals.

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