Ogulsapar Muradova (

Turkmen Turkmen, Türkmen, Turkoman, or Turkman may refer to: Peoples Historical ethnonym * Turkoman (ethnonym), ethnonym used for the Oghuz Turks during the Middle Ages Ethnic groups * Turkmen in Anatolia and the Levant (Seljuk and Ottoman-Turkish desc ...

: Огулсапар Мурадова; 1948 — 2006) was a

human rights activist and Radio Free Europe journalist. She was the sister of Annadurdy Hajyýew, a leader of the exiled Republican Party of Turkmenistan. She was arrested on June 18, 2006 with two other activists - her brother

Sapardurdy Khadzhiev Sapardurdy Khadzhiev is a Turkmenistani human rights 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 ...

, an associate of the Turkmen Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights, and

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 con ...

. The state-controlled press accused them of smearing Turkmenistan's international reputation. On June 19, President

Saparmurat Niyazov Saparmurat Atayevich Niyazov; tk, Saparmyrat Ataýewiç Nyýazow, in Cyrillic: Сапармырат Атаевич Ныязов (19 February 1940 – 21 December 2006), also known as Turkmenbashi, was a Turkmen politician who rule ...

personally issued a statement on national television condemning Muradova and other arrested activists. "I don't know why

he detainees He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' in ...

are engaged in such dirty business in Turkmenistan, a peaceful country where justice is ruling and where nobody is disgraced... Let people condemn the traitors. The entire population is proud of their motherland, whereas they are trying to harm it" Niyazov said. On August 25, 2006 the three activists were sentenced to between six and seven years in jail on charges of illegal possession of weapons. The trial reportedly lasted less than two hours and defence lawyers were reportedly not given the indictment before the trial commenced. Muradova died in prison before September 14, 2006 of "natural causes", according to Turkmen officials, but her children are quoted as saying that her body had "marks on the neck" and a "large wound" on the head. International human rights groups have expressed outrage over her death and called for an independent investigation into the circumstances that led to it.

References

External links

Profile: Ogulsapar Muradova
Central Asia Health Review. Oct. 12, 2008 {{DEFAULTSORT:Muradova, Ogulsapar 1948 births 2006 deaths Turkmenistan human rights activists Assassinated Turkmenistan journalists Turkmenistan people who died in prison custody Prisoners who died in Turkmenistan detention 21st-century Turkmenistan writers 20th-century Turkmenistan writers 20th-century journalists Human rights abuses in Turkmenistan Censorship in Turkmenistan People convicted of illegal possession of weapons