Andrei Zatoka has been freed!

Great News!

Andrei Zatoka has been released. A regional court in reversed the original verdict. It has been reported that the five year sentence has been commuted, but he will need to pay a fine of $350. He is reportedly on his way to Russia today!

For more information check out:

– Crude Accountability
– Eurasia.net
– Radio Free Europe

Thanks to everyone for your help and support!!

The Best Way to Help Andrei

Click here for downloadable letters with addresses that you can put you name on and then mail to both the Turkmen government and the US government!

Thanks to Kate Watters from Crude Accountability!

Some Good News

Eurasia.net has reported the Russian Government is working for Andrei’s release to Russia (Andrei has dual citizenship with Turkmenistan and Russia).

The BBC has also covered the story- there is international exposure and pressure building on Turkmenistan to release Andrei Zatoka.

Click here to see how you can help.

Andrei Zatoka sentenced to five years in prison!

Environmental activist Andrei Zatoka has just been sentenced to five years in Prison!  He was set up by the Turkmen authorities  in the Dashoguz Bazaar, where he was attacked by an unknown man and arrested when went to two police officers for help.

For more information on his arrest and the situation as a whole check out Crude Accountability, Human rights Watch, and Ferghana.ru.

Here is a letter written by Andrei Zatoka in the case that he should be arrested, where he recounts the constant harassment he has been under from the Turkmen authorities for the past two years.

Check out Amnesty International for how to help! Also, please sign international petition for his release

Here are some photos from the demonstrations to free Andrei:

From Washington, D.C. in Front of the Turmenistan Embassy

From Moscow, in front of the Turkmenistan Embassy

 

How to help Andrei!

Here is a way you can help Andrei Zatoka:

1. Read the following urgent action just released by Amnesty International.

2. Send a letter or fax to the President of Turkmenistan and/or the Minister of Foreign Affairs

Here a sample letter you can copy and paste on to a word document and the address and fax of the President of Turkmenistan and/or the Minister of Foreign Affairs

Dear _________,

I am very concerned about the safety and health of Andrei Zatoka. He has been a commited ecologist and community servant for Turkmenistan. I am especially concerned at allegations that Andrei Zatoka was targeted for arrest because of his peaceful work as an environmental activist.  Mr. Zatoka is a prisoner of conscience and should be released because Turkmenistan is a state party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

We would like to see him released as soon as possible.

Thank you,

President of Turkmenistan
Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov
Presidential Palace
744000 Ashgabat
Turkmenistan
Fax: +993 12 35 51 12
Salutation: Dear President of Turkmenistan

Minister of Foreign Affairs
Rashit Meredov
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
83 pr. Magtymguly
744000 Ashgabat
Turkmenistan
Fax: +993 12 35 42 41
Email: 	mfatm@online.tm
Salutation: Dear Minister

Andrei Zatoka Arrested Again!

Andrei Zatoka, environmental activist, has been arrested again by the government of Turkmenistan.  Most of the news states that he was arrested after being attacked at the Dashoguz market (bazaar).

Here is some information on the arrest from Reuters and from The Chronicles of Turkmenistan.

Andrei was arrested the first time by the Turkmen government on December 17, 2006 and was held in prison for just over a month before being freed thanks to an international campaign.  Andrei was not allowed to leave Turkmenistan after being released.

Andrei was in fear of being arrested again.  Here is a copy of a letter that Andrei wrote on June 20, 2008 to be sent to out in case he was arrested by the Turkmen authorities.

If you want to get involved and help. Crude accountability is organizing a campaign of support.

There will be a demonstration in front of the Turkmenistan Embassy in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday, October 28th from 5:30- 7:00 pm.  Click here for more information.

Current News from the Turkmenistan Project

The following information is from the Turkmenistan Project from Eurasianet and lays out the results of the trial:

“One of the first litmus tests of the new leadership’s attitude toward
grassroots reform – the trial of environmentalist Andrei Zatoka —
yielded results that were mixed and virtually identical to those from
similar cases prosecuted under Niyazov. Zatoka’s arrest on December 17,
2006, provided the first major political trial since Niyazov’s death.
In a trial on January 31 likely hastened by international outcry,
Zatoka was convicted and handed a suspended sentence of 3 years and released
on parole, but must check in with the police once a month and may not
leave Turkmenistan except with government permission. The case suggested
that, in these still-early days of the post-Niyazov era, the interim
authorities will continue to be able to influence law-enforcement and the
judiciary to achieve political ends, and, like Niyazov, will offer some
concessions to international outcry over human rights abuses, but will
not tolerate grassroots reform efforts at home.”

Letter from Zheina Zatoka

Here is an Letter from Zheina Zatoka- as given to Kate Watters from Crude Accountability

Dear Friends,

I know that not all of you can understand the Russian below, or in the
link, but this is a thank you letter from Zhenia Zatoka, Andrey’s wife,
and it goes out to all those who worked for Andrey’s release.

Below she says: thank you to everyone who helped to free Andrey!
Dear Friends! We won! Andrey is free!

The link below takes you to a website with her photograph and a longer
letter.

She specifically thanks everyone who stood in front of the embassy in
the picket, as well as those who wrote letters and demanded Andrey’s
freedom in other ways.

In a paragraph specifically directed toward her American friends
(you!),
she says: I understand now that our world is small, and that not one
person on the planet is lost. I thank you all for your help!

At the end of her letter she says, “There is one more important thing:
we have come to understand that borders and distance do not separate
us. We are together! We are a large community of environmentalists,
civil society activists, friends. An international socio-ecological
union.”

Happy weekend to everyone, and thanks again for all you have done! Its
nice, once in a while, to be part of something that makes a difference,
isn’t it?

Warmest wishes,
Kate

Andrei Zatoka is Free!!!!

Andrei Zatoka is no longer in jail in Turkmenistan. He is back at is home in Dashoguz. Thanks to everyone who wrote and helped with his release! This could have never happened without all the letters that were sent!

Thanks so much to everyone who helped!

Here are some links with information on the story:

From Eurasianet

From Crude Accountability

From Reuters

International Committee in Defense of Andrey Zatoka Is Created

Check it out here