Sapardurdy Khadzhiev is a

Turkmenistan Turkmenistan ( or ; tk, Türkmenistan / Түркменистан, ) is a country located in Central Asia, bordered by Kazakhstan to the northwest, Uzbekistan to the north, east and northeast, Afghanistan to the southeast, Iran to the s ...

human rights Human rights are moral principles or normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for certain standards of hu ...

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".

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 Annakurban Amanklychev is a human rights activist notable for serving a prison sentence (2006-2013) in the dictatorial regime of Turkmenistan on charges, widely believed to be fabricated. Amnesty International had considered him a prisoner of co ...

, another THF worker, and Khadzhiev's sister Ogulsapar Myradowa, a correspondent for

Radio Liberty Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transm ...

. The three were initially charged with spying for foreign intelligence services; these charges were later changed to "the illegal acquisition, possession or sale of ammunition or firearms". Amanklychev's family allege that law enforcement planted cartridges in his car to manufacture evidence. Amnesty International, Front Line,

Reporters Without Borders Reporters Without Borders (RWB; french: Reporters sans frontières; RSF) is an international non-profit and non-governmental organization with the stated aim of safeguarding the right to freedom of information. It describes its advocacy as found ...

, and

Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization, headquartered in New York City, that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. The group pressures governments, policy makers, companies, and individual human ...

have all described the charges as fabricated.

Imprisonment

Sapardurdy Khadzhiev and Annakurban Amanklychev were sentenced to seven-year prison terms. 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.

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

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Khadzhiev, Sapardurdy Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Amnesty International prisoners of conscience held by Turkmenistan Turkmenistan journalists Turkmenistan prisoners and detainees Turkmenistan human rights activists Imprisoned journalists 21st-century Turkmenistan writers