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Thursday, 04 September 2003
SON OF TURKMEN OPPOSITION FIGURE BEATEN IN MOSCOW
By empty (9/4/2003 issue of the CACI Analyst)
Shanazar Berdyev, an RFE/RL stringer who is the son of prominent Turkmen opposition figure Muhamedgeldy Berdyev, was attacked at the door of his Moscow apartment on 2 September and severely injured by a person reportedly wearing a police uniform, the Russian human rights group Memorial reported on 4 September. Muhamedgeldy Berdyev\'s brother, Meretmuhammet, was detained in 1997 for distributing the opposition publication \"Turkmen Ili\" in Mary Oblast, and later died in a psychiatric institution under unexplained circumstances. Shanazar Berdyev emigrated to Russia in 2002 to escape the Turkmen security services and two unidentified Turkmen speakers reportedly attempted to kidnap him from a Moscow street in October 2002.
Shanazar Berdyev, an RFE/RL stringer who is the son of prominent Turkmen opposition figure Muhamedgeldy Berdyev, was attacked at the door of his Moscow apartment on 2 September and severely injured by a person reportedly wearing a police uniform, the Russian human rights group Memorial reported on 4 September. Muhamedgeldy Berdyev\'s brother, Meretmuhammet, was detained in 1997 for distributing the opposition publication \"Turkmen Ili\" in Mary Oblast, and later died in a psychiatric institution under unexplained circumstances. Shanazar Berdyev emigrated to Russia in 2002 to escape the Turkmen security services and two unidentified Turkmen speakers reportedly attempted to kidnap him from a Moscow street in October 2002. His father was beaten on a Moscow street on 29 July 2003. Muhamedgeldy Berdyev told Memorial that he has not reported the attacks on him and his son to the Moscow police because they do not have residence permits for Moscow, and they fear they will be deported to Turkmenistan. (RFE/RL)