On 21 May, 2021 the NGO “Committee to Protect Journalists” (CPJ) appealed to the Turkmen authorities calling on them to immediately release Nurgeldi Halykov, a journalist of the news outlet Turkmen News, from prison.
“Turkmen authorities should immediately and unconditionally release journalist Nurgeldi Halykov from prison and cease filing retaliatory criminal charges against journalists for their work,” said Gulnoza Said, CPJ’s Europe and Central Asia coordinator.
“For too long, correspondents of foreign independent media outlets have had to live in fear of arbitrary detention on spurious charges. Turkmenistan must live up to its international commitments and allow the press to work freely”, – Gulnoza Said was quoted as saying.
Let us recall that in September 2020 a 26 year old Halykov was sentenced to four years in prison on fraud charges.
The real reason behind the arrest and conviction was retaliation for his journalistic activity after the special services had learned that the journalist contributed to the outlet Turkmen News.
OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Teresa Ribeiro also raised Halykov’s detention during a meeting with the Ambassador of Turkmenistan to Vienna held on 11 February and requested more information.
On February 17, several U.N.agencies, including Mandates of the Special Rapporteur on freedom of opinion and expression, the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances and the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders, sent a joint statement to Turkmen authorities detailing their concerns with Halykov’s sentence.
The response provided by the Turkmen government only says that Nurgeldy Halykov was sentenced to a four year imprisonment term for fraud pursuant to article 228 (2) of Turkmenistan’s Criminal Code.The post The International Committee to Protect Journalists call on the authorities to release journalist Nurgeldi Halykov jailed in Turkmenistan first appeared on Chronicles of Turkmenistan.