The United Coalition of free press, created in 2019 by the International Media Council, added Nurgeldy Khalykov to the monthly list of persecuted journalists.
Khalykov was sentenced to 4 years in prison on false charges of fraud for his collaboration with the independent news website turkmen.news. Nurgeldy was arrested for having sent to turkmen.news a photo with members of the World Health Organization who arrived in Turkmenistan on a specific mission. A criminal case was opened against him on fraud (non-repayment of the “debt” in the amount of $ 5,000). On September 15, the District Court of Bagtyyarlyk sentenced him to 4 years in prison.
The Coalition notes that the verdict is government revenge on Khalykov for his reporting for independent news sites in Turkmenistan. Nurgeldy Khalykov has been illegally held in prison by the country’s authorities since September 2020. The international organization “Reporters Without Borders” has included President Berdymukhamedov on the list of enemies of press freedom. The report says that the regime in Turkmenistan is one of the most totalitarian in the world, and the country has strict censorship, journalists and human rights defenders are forced to work underground, the Internet is under the full control of the authorities. This year, as before, Turkmenistan ranked 178th out of 180 countries in the world in the press freedom index.
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