Shageldy Atakov
Shageldy Atakov has been released!

On August 4, 1999, Shageldy Atakov, an ethnic Turkmen of a Christian church in Turkmenbashi, was sentenced by the Kopetdag district court in Ashgabat to four years in prison camp plus a $12,000 fine (equivalent to 25 years' salary for the average Turkmen citizen) for alleged embezzlement of a car. The court's decision to imprison a religious minority, in this case a Christian, effectively ends ten years of relative religious freedom and tolerance in Turkmenistan. However, Section 228 of the criminal code, under which Mr. Atakov was sentenced, is subject to presidential amnesty.

Reliable reports suggest that the case against Mr. Atakov was fabricated because local religious leaders were angry with him about his conversion to Christianity and his outspokenness in discussing his new faith. By imprisoning Mr. Atakov on charges not related to his faith, authorities in Turkmenistan are using tactics of the former Soviet Union. In 1987, there were over 250 pastors in Soviet Gulags that authorities claimed were all legitimate prisoners who were imprisoned for criminal activity that had nothing to do with their religious beliefs. By 1990, the Soviet authorities acknowledged all of these pastors to be victims of political repression and subsequently released and apologized to them for the persecution they endured for their faith.

Mr. Atakov's case began in November of 1998 when KNB officials (an exact replica of the KGB in Russia) and local religious leaders visited Mr. Atakov and told him that if he converted back to Islam, they would give him a car, a new apartment, and make him a Muslim leader (he had been a very devout, well-respected Muslim in his community). If Mr. Atakov refused this offer, they would find charges against him and imprison him. Between November and December of 1998, various officials visited Mr. Atakov to repeat their offer, which always ended with a threat. One of the first secret police officials to visit him stated, you will be sentenced to prison and "There, we will quickly force you into silence." Mr. Atakov continued to refuse their demands. Finally, on December 18, 1998, Shageldy Atakov was arrested and imprisoned.

There is evidence that the KNB is attempting to "silence" Mr. Atakov even while he is in prison. Recently, he spent ten days inside a punishment cell in which he was beaten severely by prison guards, was given no water and was only fed every other day. His family saw him at the end of ten days and described Mr. Atakov as being "barely alive." There are grave concerns about his health as Mr. Atakov has developed serious intestinal problems during his prison term.

The arrest and subsequent imprisonment of Mr. Atakov are not isolated events, but are a result of a KNB (secret police) policy which has been in effect in Turkmenistan since 1997. It was 1997 that the legislature adopted highly-restrictive legislation on religion, imposing compulsory re-registration of all religious communities. According to this legislation, a religious community must have at least 500 members before it can obtain registration. Without this legal status, all religious groups are considered illegal and their activities, therefore are punishable under the law. Since June of 1997, the secret police have detained, interrogated, and physically assaulted a number of Christians. In addition, these officials have raided churches, interrupted worship services, searched homes and confiscated over 6,729 pieces of Christian literature. In each instance, the KNB warned citizens that the Christian faith, in particular, is forbidden in Turkmenistan.

Source:  Information provided by Russian Evangelistic Ministries.

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