Ogulsapar Muradova ( Turkmen: Огулсапар Мурадова; 1948 — 2006) was a Turkmen

human rights Human rights are Morality, moral principles or Social norm, 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 ce ...

activist and

Radio Free Europe Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) is a United States government funded organization that broadcasts and reports news, information, and analysis to countries in Eastern Europe, Central Asia, Caucasus, and the Middle East where it says tha ...

journalist. She was the sister of Annadurdy Hajyýew, a leader of the exiled

Republican Party of Turkmenistan The Republican Party of Turkmenistan ( tk, Türkmenistanyň Respublikan partiýasy) is one of several dissident political parties that have been outlawed within Turkmenistan. Leaders of the exile-based RPT include Nurmuhammet Hanamow who went into ...

. 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 The Turkmen Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights is a non-governmental organization, based in Bulgaria, for the promotion of human rights in Turkmenistan. The organization was founded on July 21, 2003 in Varna, Bulgaria as a branch of the Internatio ...

, 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 detaineesare 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

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 Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object. Central may also refer to: Directions and generalised locations * Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known as ...

. 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