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Friday, 05 September 2003
MEMORIAL SAYS RUSSIAN SECURITY SERVICE DETAINED TURKMEN DIPLOMATS
By empty (9/5/2003 issue of the CACI Analyst)
The Moscow human rights organization Memorial has issued a report asserting that the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) detained several Turkmen diplomats in Moscow on 17 August for allegedly engaging in activities not compatible with their diplomatic status. An FSB spokesman was quoted as saying the detained officials included the first secretary of the Turkmen Embassy in Moscow, a representative of the Turkmen Foreign Ministry, and an official of the Turkmen National Security Ministry who was allegedly sent to Moscow to undertake actions against the Turkmen opposition. The detainees have been released, but eight employees of the Turkmen Embassy in Moscow were expelled from the country.
The Moscow human rights organization Memorial has issued a report asserting that the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) detained several Turkmen diplomats in Moscow on 17 August for allegedly engaging in activities not compatible with their diplomatic status. An FSB spokesman was quoted as saying the detained officials included the first secretary of the Turkmen Embassy in Moscow, a representative of the Turkmen Foreign Ministry, and an official of the Turkmen National Security Ministry who was allegedly sent to Moscow to undertake actions against the Turkmen opposition. The detainees have been released, but eight employees of the Turkmen Embassy in Moscow were expelled from the country. Memorial interpreted the FSB\'s action as an indication that the Russian special services are no longer willing to close their eyes to the operations of the Turkmen security service on Russian soil. (RFE/RL)