CCPR/C/122/D/2252/2013
immediately after Ms. Muradova, on 18 June 2006. The day after her arrest, President
Niyazov held a televised meeting at which he and other senior government officials
condemned Ms. Muradova and her colleagues as traitors who should be condemned for
their work for the Turkmenistan Helsinki Foundation and for assisting foreign journalists,
which was described as “gathering slanderous information in order to sow discontent
among the population”.
2.8
Ms. Muradova was charged with illegal acquisition, sale, storage, transportation or
carrying of ammunition, firearms or explosives by a group of persons with prior agreement,
a crime punishable by imprisonment for a term of between two and seven years, under
article 287 (2) of the Criminal Code. The prosecution contended that, while at Ms.
Muradova’s home, Mr. Khadzhiyev had given several rounds of ammunition to Mr.
Amanklyuchev to sell. Ms. Muradova maintained her innocence and refused to cooperate
with the investigation.
2.9
Ms. Muradova was detained virtually without contact with the outside world until
her trial on 25 August 2006. Her lawyer was afraid of taking her case; he gave her
daughters conflicting information about whether he had met with her in custody, admitting
that the authorities were putting pressure on him. During this two-month period, the
authorities attempted to make Ms. Muradova confess to the crimes she had been charged
with. Ms. Muradova’s family was never allowed to visit her during her detention. In one of
the few messages she was able to send to her family, Ms. Muradova said that she “could not
stand the mistreatment” she was suffering. Because of the limited contact with her family,
Ms. Muradova was not able to describe further the physical conditions of detention.
2.10 Ms. Muradova’s family was not informed regarding the trial date. On 25 August
2006, they were waiting near the courthouse, and Ms. Muradova’s lawyer told them that the
trial would be held that same day. The authorities threatened that the defendants would be
charged with additional crimes of espionage and high treason, but in the end, they were
only tried on weapons-related charges.
2.11 On 25 August 2006, Ms. Muradova and her two colleagues were found guilty of
possessing weapons, following a trial behind closed doors that lasted less than two hours.
Turkmen officials excluded all members of the public, including her family, and blocked
the road to the court building to prevent access to it. Agents of the Ministry of National
Security were posted near the courthouse and filmed everyone who approached the building.
Ms. Muradova was sentenced to six years in prison. The court never issued a written
judgment, which prevented her lawyer from filing a meaningful appeal.
2.12 Ms. Muradova’s family and lawyer never received a copy of the indictment. During
the trial, the authorities prevented Ms. Muradova and her colleagues from presenting their
case. Soldiers at the courthouse initially blocked Ms. Muradova’s lawyer from entering the
building, but he was later allowed in. Ms. Muradova and her colleagues were not permitted
to make full statements during the hearings.
2.13 After the trial, Ms. Muradova was kept in a temporary detention facility of the
Ministry of Internal Affairs. The police did not inform Ms. Muradova’s family about her
whereabouts. The author believes that she was kept in a pretrial detention facility to
continue the abuse.
2.14 On 14 September 2006, a neighbour who was a former law enforcement officer
informed Ms. Muradova’s family that she had died in custody. Morgue employees only
permitted her family to see her body after officials from the United States Embassy and the
Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe demanded it. The injuries on her body
indicated that she had died violently. The following marks were observed on her body (a) a
deep vertical red cut in the middle of her forehead, which was 5 cm long; (b) a dark mark
around her neck suggesting strangulation, about 1 cm wide; (c) three open red wounds on
one of her hands; (d) swelling and bruising to the ankle of one of her legs; and (e) a large
bruise on one of her lower thighs.
2.15 In addition to the injuries listed above, Ms. Muradova’s body had a long deep cut
from the neck to the waist, which had been sown back together, indicating that an autopsy
had been conducted. The German public radio station, Deutsche Welle, reported that the
3