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A Prisoners Riot Suppressed in Turkmenistan
Turkmen special forces have suppressed a riot in a closely-guarded prison camp outside the capital of Ashgabat, leaving 23 people dead, Turkmen human right activists report. Authorities dismiss the information.
The Turkmenistan Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights posted on its website news about a violent suppression of a riot in the prison of Ovadan-Depe prison, citing an email of a Turkmen military man who took part in the suppression.
Ovadan-Depe is one of the closest-guarded prisons in Turkmenistan, the place that the late Turkmen leader Saparmurat Niyazov had built for his political opponents, critics of his regime and disgraced officials. The prisoners have no contract with the outside world whatsoever. They do not receive newspapers, nor are they allowed to watch TV or listen to the radio. Conditions in the cells are appalling.
The riot happened on December 21, the day after the death of Saparmurat Niyazov. The sender of the email to the Helsinki Group says that the news about Niyazov’s death came from construction workers. The inmates started passing the news, banging on the iron doors and cursing the deceased Turkmen president. The prison’s authorities asked for reinforcement. Ashgabat sent a helicopter with special forces who started firing from machine guns at the inmates, killing 23 people.
Turkmen penitentiary officials denied any reports of the riot on Thursday.
www.kommersant.com
All the Article in Russian as of Jan. 19, 2007
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