TKM 001 / 1109 / OBS 161
Arbitrary detention / Judicial harassment
Turkmenistan
November 5, 2009
The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint programme of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), requests your urgent intervention in the following situation in Turkmenistan.
The Observatory has been informed by reliable sources about the arbitrary detention and trial in appeal of the environmental activist Mr. Andrey Zatoka, co-Founder of the Dashoguz Ecology Club, shut down by the Turkmen authorities in 2003.
According to the information received, on October 20, 2009, Mr. Andrey Zatoka was physically attacked by an unknown man in the market of Dashoguz. He was then arrested by two police officers, and later unjustly charged with “hooliganism” (violent action).
On October 29, 2009, Mr. Andrey Zatoka was convicted for "intentional infliction of medium injuries", and sentenced to five years’ imprisonment. The trial was hurriedly convened after a four-day public holiday. This prevented many international observers from attending the hearing.
Mr. Zatoka immediately appealed the October 29 ruling, and the hearing in appeal should take place on November 6.
In 2006, Mr. Zatoka had already been detained in his hometown of Tashauz while boarding a flight to Moscow and charged with “hooliganism”. He had later been accused of being in possession of weapons and dangerous substances. He was granted a conditional release in January 2007, following pressure from the international community, upon a pledge not to leave the country for three years. In that framework, Mr. Zatoka encountered in 2008 an order of refusal to leave the territory from the Attorney General, although he was scheduled to go to a meeting in Moscow organised by the International Social and Ecological Union and holds a Russian passport[1].
The Observatory expresses its deepest concern about the arbitrary detention and judicial harassment against Mr. Andrey Zatoka, which seems to stem from fabricated charges and to merely aim at sanctioning his human rights activities, and therefore calls for the full respect of fair trial standards for Mr. Zatoka in appeal.
The Observatory calls upon the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) field operation in Ashgabat to observe the hearing in appeal and to report on all violations of fair trial standards and other procedural irregularities.
The Observatory more generally recalls that as a participating State of the OSCE, Turkmenistan recognises “the need for particular attention, support and protection for human rights defenders by the OSCE, its institutions and field operations, as well as by participating States”.
Please write to the Turkmen authorities urging them to:
Please also write to the diplomatic representations of Turkmenistan in your respective countries.
Geneva - Paris, November 5, 2009.
Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in your reply.
The Observatory, a FIDH and OMCT venture, is dedicated to the protection of Human Rights Defenders and aims to offer them concrete support in their time of need.
The Observatory was the winner of the 1998 Human Rights Prize of the French Republic.
To contact the Observatory, call the emergency line:
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