CCPR/C/125/D/2448/2014
1.
The authors of the communication are Vladimir Nuryllayev, born in 1972, and
Aibek Salayev, born in 1979, nationals of Turkmenistan who are both Jehovah’s Witnesses.
They claim that the State party has violated their rights under article 14 (1), (3) (d) and (e)
and (5), and article 18 read in conjunction with article 26, of the Covenant. In addition, Mr.
Salayev claims to be the victim of a violation of article 7 of the Covenant. The authors are
represented by counsel. The Covenant and its Optional Protocol entered into force for
Turkmenistan on 1 August 1997.
The facts as submitted by the authors
2.1
On 22 September 2011, police officers forcibly and without any warrant entered the
home of the first author, Mr. Nuryllayev, and seized his Bible and other religious literature.
On 25 September 2011, the first author was summoned by representatives of the Ashgabat
city administration and questioned about his religious activities. On 18 October 2011, he
was convicted by Berkararlyk (Azatlykskiy) District Court in Ashgabat for illegal
distribution of religious material, under article 205 of the Code of Administrative
Violations, and was sentenced to a fine of approximately €95. On 20 October 2011, three
police officers entered his house again and seized his laptop and other personal items,
without sealing/protecting them to prevent possible tampering. On 15 November 2011, the
first author was arrested and taken into custody for distribution of pornography. He was
charged and placed in pretrial detention on 19 November 2011.
2.2
The first author alleges that the charge against him was fabricated by the police. The
charge and conviction were based on the testimonies of two persons. Each claimed that the
first author had given him a CD at the market, and each claimed then to have discovered,
after arriving home, that the CD contained pornographic material. The two witnesses, who
allegedly do not know each other, explained that they both decided on the exact same day
to go back to the market to return the CD to the first author. The first author considers that
their testimonies are illogical and suspiciously identical. The story of each witness is
exactly the same, word for word.
2.3
On 18 January 2012, the first author was convicted by Berkararlyk (Azatlykskiy)
District Court in Ashgabat for distribution of pornography and was sentenced to four years’
imprisonment. He did not have a lawyer and his conviction relied solely upon the written
summary of the testimonies of the two witnesses, who did not appear before the court. On
14 February 2012, Ashgabat City Court rejected an appeal made by the first author. On 15
May 2012, a supervisory appeal was filed with the Supreme Court on behalf of the first
author, by his fiancé. On 17 May 2012, the first author was amnestied and released from
prison without having his conviction expunged from his criminal record. On 28 May 2012,
the Supreme Court rejected the supervisory appeal made on 15 May 2012. On 28 August
2012, a new supervisory appeal was filed with the Presidium of the Supreme Court. That
appeal was rejected on 10 October 2012.
2.4
On 7 March 2012, the second author, who is a Jehovah’s Witnesses minister,
without any previous criminal record, was arrested by two police officers while taking part
in a gathering in a private apartment in the city of Dashoguz to read and discuss the Bible.
He was taken to a police station and detained. Later that day, the police went to his
apartment and, without any warrant, requested his mother to give them his religious
literature. They seized his computer, some CDs and a micro memory card, without
sealing/protecting these items to prevent possible tampering. The police allege that on 8
March 2012, some officers called randomly on three persons in Dashoguz, and that they all
claimed that the second author had sold them CDs containing pornography.
2.5
On 11 March 2012, the second author was transferred from the police station to a
remand facility. He says that, while on remand, he was repeatedly beaten by officials of the
facility on his head and in his stomach and kidneys until he was left unconscious. The
officials threatened that he would be raped when transferred to the prison colony.
Afterwards he was beaten by a group of prisoners who, he states, were collaborators of the
prison administration. His family was at first denied permission to see him. When finally
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