Maksat Kakabaev (known under his artist name Maro) and Murad Ovezov are an unusual pair. They are well-known singers from Turkmenistan who made their career performing western-style pop songs; the kind of music that is not generally tolerated by the authoritarian, isolationist Turkmenistan government.
At the time, then-President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov had started an initiative to refocus Turkmen youth on more patriotic music and traditional dress. Neither Maksat nor Murad follow state-approved dress codes for artists or used ideological messages in their songs as is common among state-approved musicians. The content of one of Murat’s songs might have been interpreted as a call to stand up against the regime. The lyrics read: “Open your eyes, look in the mirror/Look at your surroundings/Do not stop, wake up/Enough is enough.”
In January 2011, Maksat appeared on TMB, a Turkish based satellite music channel, where he was interviewed and his western-style music video was played. Following his appearance, the Turkmen Culture and Broadcasting Ministry summoned him and Murad and told them not to appear on foreign media again.
Days later, the two men were summoned to the Turkmen Interior Ministry along with five young popular singers who appeared with them in their music videos. These five individuals were interrogated, forced to submit explanatory statements, and later released by the Ministry after a 15-day detention. During their 15-day detention, Maksat and Murad were verbally and physically abused. They were taunted by guards for their “feminine appearance” and forcefully had their heads shaved.
After 15 days in administrative detention, Maksat was convicted on unknown charges and sentenced to seven years in prison. Unconfirmed sources report that he was charged in relation to a year-old dispute over a TV antenna with his neighbor which had already been peacefully resolved.
Murad was sentenced to five years in prison on charges related to a car accident, which he had already been prosecuted for and sentenced to two years’ probation. However, after the TMB interview, Murad was rearrested for allegedly not registering at the police station as part of his conditional sentencing.
Freedom Now mobilized international pressure in support of the two singers. This materialized in the form of an op-ed in European Voice and a letter from 24 members of the European Parliament. In September 2012, Freedom Now filed a petition with the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention on behalf of Kakabaev and Ovezov. The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention issued an opinion in April 2013 finding the detention of the two men violated international law.
After serving approximately two years in prison, they were released as part of an amnesty celebrating National Flag Day in February 2013.