New York, November 25, 2024—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Turkmen authorities to end the ongoing oppression of veteran journalist Soltan Achilova, who was forcibly hospitalized and again prevented from traveling abroad to receive the Martin Ennals award for her work documenting human rights violations in Turkmenistan.
Several men in medical uniforms arrived November 20 at Achilova’s apartment, in the capital Ashgabat, and claimed that she had an infectious disease and needed to go to the hospital, according to mediareports. Achilova—a human rights defender, freelance journalist, and a former correspondent of the U.S. Congress-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty— did not have any symptoms, was feeling healthy and ready to leave for the airport when the men arrived in the morning.
“The forcible hospitalization of veteran independent journalist Soltan Achilova is extreme and farcical even by Turkmen standards. It shows not only how far the Turkmen authorities are ready to go to restrict independent journalists but also their fear of independent reporting,” said Gulnoza Said, CPJ’s Europe and Central Asia program coordinator. “The Turkmenistan authorities should stop preventing Achilova from traveling abroad or practicing journalism at home.”
Speaking to CPJ from home on Monday, Achilova said she was “locked in a hospital room with no phones or internet connection” as she missed the November 21 ceremony, which honors human rights defenders.
Achilova, one of few independent journalists in Turkmenistan, was awarded the Martin Ennals Foundation’s award in 2021 but was prevented from traveling in both 2022 and 2023 to collect it, and she has previously been banned from traveling, detained and harassed.
Касаткина о выступлении за сборную Австралии: «Это вопрос, который Tennis Australia должна решать с ITF – это уже совсем другой разговор, и я не буду в нем участвовать»
Арина Соболенко выходит во второй круг Открытого чемпионата Франции
Бадоса обыграла Наоми Осаку и вышла во второй круг «Ролан Гаррос»
Первая ракетка Казахстана рухнул в мировом рейтинге ATP
Заместитель прокурора Архангельской области и Ненецкого автономного округа Павел Матанцев и Уполномоченный по правам ребенка в Ненецком автономном округе Галина Гуляева проведут личный приём жителей Ненецкого автономного округа по вопросам защиты пра
Архангельские гребцы завоевали две медали на первенстве России в Краснодаре
В суд направлено уголовное дело о незаконной охоте с причинением крупного ущерба на территории Ненецкого автономного округа
Село Субботник частично останется без электричества: в Симферополе, Евпатории, Алуште, Ялте, Керчи, Джанкое, Феодосии и Севастополе отключат свет 29 мая 2025
Встреча друзей «Библиотека – волшебное место, где книгам не скучно, где всем интересно».