Turkmenistan: Former Journalist Suffers Assault, Broken Windows
A former correspondent for the state-run newspaper Neitral'niy Turkmenistan has suffered an attack of his home, Chronicles of Turkmenistan (chrono-tm.org), an independent news site, reported.
On November 11, vandals threw rocks into the home of Annamamed Myatiev, breaking a window and a mirror in his bedroom. Police are investigating the incident.
Myatiev believes the attack was directed at him, as he lives in a five-story building with many apartments and three stones were aimed at just his windows.
On October 26, an unknown young man in sunglasses came up from behind Myatiev on the street, punched him in the face, and ran away. He suffered a split lip, but didn't go to the police at the time.
Now with the rocks thrown through his windows, he is concerned that the authorities may be trying to send him some kind of "message," possibly suspecting him of ties to foreign media. His wife told chrono-tm.org that he fears for his life and health.
In June 2010, Annamamed was supposed to fly to the Netherlands for an eye operation, but he and his wife were not permitted to leave the country. At that time, human rights defenders, including the late Russian human rights leader Elena Bonner, protested and he was finally allowed to leave. He later returned home to Turkmenistan.
Myatiev worked for 30 years as a journalist, and was dismissed from the state newspaper in 2009 ostensibly for health reasons, although he had not submitted a resignation.
Another reporter, Gurbansoltan Achilova, who worked for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, suffered a very similar attack in December 2010.
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