Family members of the Turkmen activist Rozybai Jumamuradov are still being persecuted. For the time being his relatives are being pressured not only by the authorities.
Correspondents of “Chronicles of Turkmenistan” report that on 17 May senior graders of school №28 in the village of “Taze usul”, Sayat etrap were mobilized to manually collect silk worm cocoons.
Go ahead, tell your uncle that we are exploiting child labour here! Exams are approaching. Don’t even think you will get good grades! the school principal Govkher Baltayeva told a 9th grade student Merdjen Jumamuradov, the activist’s niece.
Baltayeva previously followed the instructions of the NSM officers to escort a 14 year student to the police station for questioning. She obeyed the instructions without warning the teenager’s parents. Now at her own initiative the school principal is abusing power to pressure underage family members of the Turkmen dissident.
It appears that the actions of the school principal are explained by the fact that her husband Berdymurat Baltayev was previously the head of transport prosecutor’s office of Lebap velayat and was the chief prosecutor of the city of Mary. After his retirement he still keeps contact with law enforcement agencies.
It transpired on 7 May that two NSM officers and a youth liaison officer Durdyev questioned a 14 year old teenager Jumamurat Jumamuradov for over an hour without the presence of his parents or an attorney.
They also brought the boy’s mother to the police station and interrogated and intimidated her in the presence of her son.After taking profile photos of both, the security service officials released them.
On 26 April 2021, national security officials summoned and questioned the boy’s father. Prior to this, on 21 March 2021, unidentified people called the boy’s family and threatened to kill them unless they stop communicating with Rozybai Jumamuradov.
“Turkmen Initiative for Human Rights” (TIHR), “International Partnership for Human Rights” (IPHR), “Human Rights Watch” and “Amnesty International” called on Turkmenistani authorities to end their harassment of relatives of dissidents based abroad and uphold freedom of expression and respect for basic rights within the country.The post School principal threatens a niece of a Turkmen activist with bad grades first appeared on Chronicles of Turkmenistan.