Murat Dushemov. Photo: turkmen.news
Human Rights Watch (HRW) has called on the Turkmen authorities to immediately release activist Murat Dushemov, who remains in detention despite having completed his four-year prison sentence on June 14. In a statement published on the organization’s official website, HRW condemned what it described as abusive efforts to prolong Dushemov’s imprisonment.
“Authorities should immediately and unconditionally release activist Murat Dushemov and end all abusive attempts to extend his detention,” the statement reads.
Dushemov was due for release earlier this month, but a new criminal case was opened against him after a fellow inmate accused him of breaking his arm. According to Dushemov, who conveyed his version of events to his mother via a lawyer, the accusation was fabricated in a staged provocation. He claims the other inmate injured himself by repeatedly hitting a wall in order to frame him.
HRW believes Dushemov’s original sentence was also politically motivated and unjust.
“Dushemov has already suffered from a grave miscarriage of justice simply for his peaceful activism,” said Rachel Denber, deputy director of HRW’s Europe and Central Asia division. “The Turkmen authorities should free him immediately and stop subjecting him to further fabricated prosecution and unfair trial.”
Dushemov was convicted on August 16, 2021, of extortion and intentional infliction of moderate bodily harm and sentenced to four years in prison. Prior to his arrest, he maintained a video blog documenting the spread of COVID-19 in Turkmenistan. One of his videos showed him questioning medical staff at a clinic about alleged forced vaccinations. Following the publication, he was fined.
Less than a month later, Dushemov and several friends were stopped at a police checkpoint while traveling from Ashgabat to Dashoguz and asked to present proof of a negative COVID-19 test. When they requested legal grounds for the requirement, they were detained. A court sentenced Dushemov and one companion to 15 days of administrative detention. Criminal charges were later filed, accusing Dushemov of fighting in jail and allegedly attempting to extort the chief doctor of the clinic in exchange for not publishing the video.
In 2023, Dushemov and three other political prisoners submitted a letter to the UN office in Turkmenistan appealing for protection from what they described as lawlessness and judicial abuse.
