(New York) â€" Turkmenistan’s release of the environmental activist Andrei Zatoka from prison on November 6, 2009, is a welcome development, but reports that the authorities effectively forced him to leave the country and may have confiscated his apartment, having already brought false charges against him, are troubling, Human Rights Watch said today.
The Dashaguz Province Court commuted Zatoka’s five-year sentence to a fine of the equivalent of about $350.
“We are very happy that Andrei Zatoka is no longer behind bars,” said Holly Cartner, Europe and Central Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “The charges against him were completely bogus, and he should never have been in prison in the first place.”
Zatoka had been sentenced to five years in prison on charges of “causing bodily harm,” following an incident in which a man attacked him in a market on October 20.

According to Zatoka, he was given to understand by the authorities that he would have to give up his apartment and immediately leave the country that had been his home for 27 years. Friends who had been helping him to pack were summarily kicked out of the apartment by the authorities, leaving Zatoka and his wife to pack on their own.
On November 6, the United States government issued a statement expressing concern about Zatoka’s trial.
“We continue to be deeply concerned about the safety and well-being of activists and their families in Turkmenistan,” Cartner said. “We urge the international community to support this jeopardized community.”

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