The price you pay as an independent journalist in Turkmenistan

When Soltan Achilova decided to change her profession and become an independent journalist in Turkmenistan nearly two decades ago, she knew her new job would be “different” and require adjustments.

But the Ashgabat-based economist turned reporter never imagined that her new profession would “turn her life upside down” and expose her to persecution, physical attacks and death threats.

“Ever since I started working as a journalist, state security agents have been on my heels. They also harass my family and monitor our phone conversations,” 74-year-old Achilova told RFE/RL. “The electricity and water in our house have been cut off several times. My relatives have been threatened by the authorities that if they stop talking to me, they will lose their jobs.”

Turkmenistan is regularly ranked by media watchdog organizations such as Reporters Without Borders (RSF) as one of the worst countries in the world for freedom of the press.

There is no independent media in the authoritarian Central Asian country. Journalism “amounts only to praise the regime,” according to RSF. The government continues to crack down on dissent – critics are harassed, beaten, tortured, imprisoned and even killed. Many others have been forced into exile abroad.

Achilova, a correspondent for the Europe-based website Khronika Turkmenistana and a former reporter for RFE/RL, is the last remaining independent journalist in Turkmenistan who openly criticizes the authoritarian government. A handful of others work secretly for some foreign-based media outlets.

The recent death of the 35-year-old former RFE/RL reporter Hudaiberdy Allashov – who Turkmen authorities had promised would drive him “to his grave” – earlier this month highlighted the way Turkmenistan punishes journalists and their families for reporting on the matter.

“You will be locked up for a long time”

Allashov worked for RFE/RL for three months in 2016, reporting on issues such as food shortages, forced labor in the cotton harvest, and wage arrears for civil servants in his home region of Dashoguz.

The journalist and his mother, Kurbantach Arazmedova, were arrested in December 2016 and charged with possession of tobacco powder. While possession is prohibited, it carries no criminal consequences. It was a trumped-up charge that was widely seen as punishment by the authorities for Allashov's work as a journalist.

Sources told RFE/RL at the time that Allashov was beaten and tortured with electric shocks in custody.

Police also interrogated his wife, Ejesh Arazgylyjeva, and their two young children. According to law enforcement sources, Arazgylyjeva was beaten by police for spreading information about the arrest of her husband and mother-in-law.

Following widespread condemnation from Western diplomats and international human rights groups, the journalist and his mother were released a few months later after a court sentenced them both to three years' probation each.

Although Allashov stopped working for RFE/RL, the government's harassment campaign against him did not stop.

Allashov was briefly arrested again in October 2019 in his hometown of Koneurgench and beaten during several hours of interrogation. His mother fell ill under the stress of her son's arrest and died of a heart attack in hospital two days later.

Another interrogation followed the following month. Police released the journalist but warned him that the authorities would not leave him alone “until they drove him to the grave,” he told RFE/RL.

In May 2022, Allashov and his wife were severely beaten and injured by a group of city administration employees. There have never been any clear official charges against Allashov or any member of his family.

Allashov was arrested again in December 2023. Authorities reportedly told the journalist at the time that he would be “locked up for a long time.”

Amid outcry from international human rights groups, Allashov was released after serving 15 days of administrative detention. However, the reporter's health deteriorated due to ill-treatment in custody and he died on August 13.

People who knew Allashov attribute his death to the physical and psychological stress caused by eight years of ruthless persecution by the government to punish him for his work as an independent journalist.#

Allashov’s death came 18 years after the death of an RFE/RL reporter in Ashgabat, Ogulsapar Muradova, in Owadan Depe Prison, a remote maximum security prison in the Karakum Desert in the middle of Allegations of torture, including strangulation. Her body showed signs of abuse.

Muradova, 58, was sentenced to seven years in prison on dubious charges of illegal possession of ammunition after police claimed to have found bullets in her car. Far-right groups say the criminal case against Muradova is retaliation for her work.

In June, independent journalist Nurgeldy Halykov released after serving a four-year prison sentence for publishing a photo of a World Health Organization delegation visiting Turkmenistan during the COVID-19 pandemic.

COVID-19 has been a sensitive issue in Turkmenistan, with authorities stressing that there has not been a single case of infection in the country.

Halykov, the Ashgabat-based reporter for the Europe-based independent news website Turkmennews, was found guilty of financial fraud, but his supporters deny the charge and say it is a plot against the journalist.

“Brainwashed” youth

The Turkmen government is attacking every aspect of the lives of independent journalists to make it impossible for them to live and work in Turkmenistan, Achilova said.

“When I try to contact people to gather information for my reports, security officials – who follow me – contact those people, harass them and order them not to talk to me,” she said, describing how officials tried to limit her ability to pursue a story.

“There are a small number of people who want to listen and talk to me about issues like electricity, water or land, but the majority of people in Turkmenistan are too afraid to talk to the media,” the journalist said.

She believes that the climate of fear in Turkmenistan forces people to pretend that they “heard and saw nothing” and “remain silent” in order to be safe from the police.

Achilova was beaten in the street, interrogated and threatened by the police, subjected to a body search at an airport and then excluded from the trip abroad to attend an international conference.

Achilova's profession also has an impact on her private life. Many friends, relatives and neighbors have cut off contact with her after being officially warned of “the consequences.”

“When I sit on the benches in front of our apartment building in the evening, where the neighbors gather, everyone leaves – one after the other,” said Achilova. “They know that I am unpopular with them. [the government]. They don't want to get into trouble.”

She is concerned about the impact of the lack of free media and information on the country's youth. The government has blocked access to almost all social media, messaging apps and independent news websites.

“Many young people in Turkmenistan have been brainwashed by the government ideology; they do not know any other point of view,” said Achilova. “Freedom of speech or human rights are a myth for them.”

Despite these challenges, Achilova has promised to continue reporting from Turkmenistan “as long as [she is] alive.” She believes her work will make a difference.