H.E. Saparmurat Niyazov
President
Office of the President
Presidential Palace
Ashkabad
Turkmenistan
Your Excellency:
We write to protest your country@quot;s part in the continuing worldwide abuse of press freedom.
On this day, World Press Freedom Day, there are — to the best of our knowledge — 193 journalists imprisoned in the jails of 29 countries, most of them solely for having done their jobs. Turkmenistan is one of the 29, and we are informed that you have in custody Nikolai Gerasimov, a freelance journalist and correspondent for the Azerbaijan Azerpress news agency.
Gerasimov was convicted of fraud and forgery, and sentenced summarily to five years in prison. The Center for Journalism in Extreme Situations, which monitors press freedom in the region, believes that Gerasimov@quot;s activities as a journalist and particularly his association with the Azerbaijani news agency may have been the reason for his arrest and sentencing. Gerasimov was reporting on the dispute between Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan over the Caspian Sea oil fields. His efforts to gather information about the Turkmen side of the conflict may have led to alleged espionage suspicions and to his arrest. Nevertheless, we are persuaded that he is a bonafide journalist and should not be persecuted for doing his job.
Your Excellency, Gerasimov should be released both on principle and as a matter of expediency. The principle is simple, as stated in the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights. “”Everyone,? according to the Declaration, ?has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.”” U.N. members recognize that this right is sometimes inconvenient and troublesome. Yet, it is crucial to uphold, and for practical reasons: A nation that stifles freedom of thought and expression forfeits the good opinion of the world and isolates itself. This may prompt political or economic sanctions, with loss of diplomatic influence and domestic prosperity; at the least, it relegates a country to the company of North Korea, Iraq under Saddam Hussein, or Zimbabwe. And in long or short order, a repressive regime will be overturned.
The Overseas Press Club of America, an independent organization that has defended press freedom around the world for 65 years, urges you to re-think your policy, to welcome free expression of ideas and opinions, and to release Nikolai Gerasimov.
The courtesy of a reply would be appreciated.
Respectfully yours,
Larry Martz
Norman A. Schorr
Co-chairmen, Freedom of the Press Committee