Jehovah's Witnesses in Turkmenistan

Religious Persecution Continues in Turkmenistan

April 7, 2004

In Turkmenistan, as of this date, Jehovah's Witnesses are still subjected to severe persecution and discrimination at the hands of the authorities, and this situation has not been improving. Turkmen Jehovah's Witnesses are completely deprived of freedom of association and peaceful assembly, even in their own homes. Although the constitution guarantees religious freedom, the new religion law outlaws any religious activity without state registration, and there is no guarantee that the registration application would not be used as a tool of repression and persecution as was the practice in the past.

Unjust imprisonments

Currently, six Jehovah's Witnesses are in prison:

Kurban Bagdatovich Zakirov was imprisoned on April 23, 1999, and was sentenced to one year in a minimum-security corrective labor colony (ITKOR) on May 25, 1999, for conscientious objection to military service. In December 1999, Zakirov was granted a pardon but was not released because he refused to give the required oath of allegiance on the Koran. In the spring of 2000, when he had completed his sentence, he was still not released but was transferred to another unit because once again he could not violate his conscience by giving the required oath of allegiance, on the Koran, to the President and the State. When it was time for Zakirov's release, one officer, in the presence of others, ripped off his own shoulder straps and said that Zakirov had attacked him. Immediately charges were drawn up against Zakirov, and he was sentenced again on the charge of assaulting the security service. The court sentenced him to eight years in a high-security corrective labor colony (ITKSR) in the city of Chärjew. Since then he has been transferred to the maximum-security prison in Turkmenbashi, where his health has deteriorated.

In May 2003, four young Jehovah's Witnesses were sentenced to a year and a half in prison for their conscientious objection to military service. Rinat Babadzhanov (born in 1981), Shohrat Mitogorov (born on April 7, 1983), Ruslan Nasyrov (born on November 27, 1984), and Rozymamed Satlykov (born on June 4, 1983) are serving their sentences in the minimum-security corrective labor colony in Seydi. On December 4, 2003, Aleksandr Matveyev (born in 1981) was also sentenced to the Seydi colony on the same grounds. His sentence is two years. All these young men, some of them not yet baptized as Jehovah's Witnesses, have been put under enormous pressure to compromise their religious convictions and to give the oath of allegiance on the Koran. Currently they are totally isolated from the surrounding society and no visitors are allowed. 

Other examples of the most recent violations against Jehovah's Witnesses in Turkmenistan:

Expulsion from work:

On March 10, 2004, Aleksandr Anatolyevich Zorin, one of Jehovah's Witnesses in Ashgabat, was called to the Council for Religious Affairs and was interviewed by seven persons, one of them a mullah. During a heated discussion, Zorin was pressured to abandon his "disgraceful religion," otherwise the Council would contact his work place and get him dismissed. This actually took place the following day. In the evening of March 12, Zorin was informed about his dismissal from work. He learned that there had been a letter from the Council to his workplace, stating that Zorin was a terrible man and a sectarian. Because of Zorin the whole team that he was working with faced dismissal. Therefore, Zorin had no choice but to agree to his dismissal. Although being an exemplary worker, Zorin is now unemployed and his wife and six-month-old baby are left without a breadwinner. It will be very difficult for him to find another job.

Zorin Aleksandr Anatolyevich — telephone in Ashgabat: +993 (12) 43-18-03

Harassment by authorities

On March 9, 2004, Olga Vladislavovna Fedorina, one of Jehovah's Witnesses in Ashgabat, was assaulted the by police. At 12.30 p.m. one policeman in uniform and two policemen in civilian clothes knocked at her door. Her husband refused to open, but the police kept knocking for 20 minutes, demanding that the door be opened for the district police officer. At 1:00 p.m. Fedorina went out in order to pick up her youngest daughter from kindergarten, but outside a civilian-clothed policeman stopped her, demanded her passport, and called the other policemen by radio. Then the police burst into the apartment and confiscated all her religious literature: one Bible, six books, and a few magazines. These were all personal, signed copies—a gift from a friend abroad. Fedorina was taken to the police station and forced to write an explanatory statement dictated by the police. Additionally, the district police officer harassed her sexually. Afterward, Fedorina filed a complaint with the prosecutor's office, providing the OSCE office in Ashgabat with a copy.

Fedorina Olga Vladislavovna — telephone in Ashgabat: +993 (12) 43-17-28

On March 18, 2004, Suren Gasparyan, one of Jehovah's Witnesses in Ashgabat, was also harassed by the authorities. At 5.30 p.m. two persons came to his apartment representing themselves as coming from the Niyazovsk District Court of Ashgabat. They required that Gasparyan immediately pay a fine of 250,000 manats, about $50 (US) that he had allegedly left unpaid in 2001. Gasparyan explained that he had paid all fines as required. From 2000 to 2004 he has been arrested some 8 to 10 times and paid a total of approximately $200 (US) in fines imposed simply because he engaged in his religious activity. Nevertheless, the representatives of the court swore at him and said that they had an order from the city administration stating that Gasparyan must pay this fine. They said that if he did not pay it, his property would be confiscated. Gasparyan had no choice but to borrow money to pay the fine to the court representatives.

Gasparyan Suren — telephone in Ashgabat: +993 (12) 36-35-27