Ogulsapar Muradova

Ogulsapar Muradova was a Turkmen human rights activist and journalist for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. In 2006, Muradova and two others were arrested. According to the state-controlled press, they were accused of “smearing Turkmenistan’s international reputation.”

Muradova was denied a lawyer, and her closed trial lasted approximately 5 minutes. Muradova died just a few days into her prison sentence. The family’s request for an autopsy was denied by the state. Murdova was believed to have been drugged and tortured as her body showed severe wounds to the head and neck. Turkmen security forces later prevented people from seeing the body or contacting Murdova’s relatives.