Yesterday on this site I commented on Berdymukhammedov throwing people in jail. Today the opposite is true. Ferghana.ru reports that the President of Turkmenistan has granted amnesty to at least 11 people imprisoned during the late Niyazov's reign.
Among the pardoned is Nasrulla Ibn Ibadulla who served as head Mufti of the Turkmen spiritual board from its creation in 1994 to 2003. In 2004, Ibadulla was sentenced to 22 years. While the exact charges against him were not made public, there was widespread speculation about the reason for his downfall. Was it because of his ethnic Uzbek background? His unwillingness to elevate the Rukhnama to the status of the Q'uran? Or had he participated in the 2002 assignation attempt against Niyazov?
Whatever the reason, Ibadulla was a prominent figure in Turkmenistan and Berdymukhammedov has made yet another bold move in granting him amnesty.
Aug 10, 2007
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1 comment:
And you scooped RFE/RL. =) It feels nice.
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