MYRADOVA TRIAL CONCLUDES WITH SIX-YEAR SENTENCE

C O N F I D E N T I A L ASHGABAT 000911 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPT FOR SCA/CEN (PERRY) E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/25/2016 TAGS: PGOV PHUM PREL TX SUBJECT: MYRADOVA TRIAL CONCLUDES WITH SIX-YEAR SENTENCE REF: A. ASHGABAT 910 ¶B. ASHGABAT 840 ¶C. ASHGABAT 698 ¶D. ASHGABAT 652 Classified By: Charge d'Affaires Jennifer L. Brush for reasons 1.4 (B) and (D). Summary -------------- ¶1. (C) Ogulspapar Myradova on August 25 was found guilty of weapons possession and sentenced to six-year's imprisonment; Annakurban Amanklichev and Sapardury Hajiyev (also spelled Khajyev),who were arrested and tried with her, were both given seven year sentences, according to Myradova's daughter. The trial was closed and less than two hours; the family intends to appeal the case using a new lawyer. End Summary. Guilty -------------- ¶2. (C) Maral Myradova, daughter of Ogulspapar Myradova, told emboff August 25 that her mother and two others, Annakurban Amanklichev and Sapardury Hajiyev, had been found guilty of weapons possession in an August 25 trial that lasted less than two hours. Although Maral Myradova claimed to have been told that President Niyazov had decided that the trial should be open, "the Committee" at the last moment had opted to hold a closed event. Ogulspapar Myradova received a six-year sentence; Amanklichev and Hajiyev both received seven-year sentences. ¶3. (C) According to Maral, her mother's lawyer never received copies of the indictment, and entered the trial without confirmation of the charges against his client. Maral indicated that she had been in touch since the trial with her uncle, former Central Bank Deputy Chairman Annadurdy Hajiyev, who was charged in absentia of embezzlement. The uncle indicated that he would help the family find another younger and "more active" attorney who could mount an appeal. OSCE Named as "Co-Conspirator" -------------- ¶4. (C) OSCE's Human Dimension Officer Benjamin Moreau told us that he had intended to attend the trial, but the OSCE Ambassador had been told at the last minute by Foreign Minister Meredov that no OSCE representatives would be allowed to attend. Maral told emboff that neither she nor her sister would have further contact with the OSCE, since they had been told that OSCE was characterized during the trial as being a "co-participant" in the crime. When told later about this comment, Moreau seemed confused, stating that the Myradova sisters had been in touch with him several times on August 24 and again in the morning of August 25, before the trial. Comment -------------- ¶5. (C) The lack of indictment and the closed trial are major departure from Turkmenistan's criminal code, and may represent a knee-jerk reaction to the high profile the case was receiving from the international human rights community. Maral Myradova has promised to stay in touch with the embassy as the case progresses. End Comment. BRUSH