Annakurban Amanklychev and Sapardurdy Khadzhiev are independent journalists currently serving seven-year sentences in Turkmenistan. They have been held incommunicado since being convicted of fabricated charges relating to the illegal possession of firearms in 2006.

Mr. Amanklychev and Mr. Khadzhiev are members of the Turkmenistan Helsinki Foundation, a human rights organization based in Bulgaria that publicizes human rights violations in Turkmenistan. In recent years, Mr. Amanklychev and Mr. Khadzhiev have cooperated with foreign journalists, including the French television company Galaxie Presse and the BBC. Both men were working on a documentary that discussed the failing Turkmen health and education systems as well as then-President Niyazov’s “personality cult” when they were arrested by officials from the National Security of Turkmenistan in June 2006.

Mr. Amanklychev and Mr. Khadzhiev were arrested in their homes on June 16, 2006, and June 18, 2006, respectively. They were convicted two months later after suffering numerous physical and psychological hardships inflicted by Turkmen officials. Their trial reportedly lasted mere minutes, while soldiers prevented relatives and other members of the public from entering the courtroom. Despite a lack of evidence, the two journalists were convicted for possession of illegal munitions and sentenced to seven years imprisonment. At the time of their arrest, Mr. Amanklychev and Mr. Kadzhiev were publicly condemned for their journalism and human-rights activities by the then-President of Turkmenistan and other high ranking government officials.

Mr. Amanklychev and Mr. Khadzhiev are currently incarcerated at the Turkmenbashi high-security prison in the Caspian Sea desert area, known for extreme hot and cold temperatures. The conditions are very poor—overcrowded, Tuberculosis-ridden, and without proper medical attention, nutrition, or water. There are credible reports that in prison, Mr. Amanklychev and Mr. Khadzhiev suffered torture; forced drug injections; and extreme heat, thirst, and hunger. A third journalist, Ogulsapar Murdova, who was tried along with Mr. Amanklychev and Mr. Khadzhiev, died in custody three weeks after the trial. Having been permitted a viewing by the morgue, Ms. Murdova’s family reports seeing marks on her body that indicate she may have been tortured while in custody.

Freedom Now is preparing a petition to the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, seeking an opinion that the journalists’ continued imprisonment violates international law.

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