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Click here for downloadable letters to help Andrei

This Action alert is from Kate Watters from Crude Accountability- check out their website for more information.

ACTION ALERT for Andrey Zatoka, Turkmen Environmentalist
Wrongly Sentenced to Five Years in Prison

Andrey Zatoka, renowned environmentalist and civil society activist from Turkmenistan, was sentenced to five years in prison for assault in a trial held in Dashovuz, Turkmenistan on October 29, 2009. Andrey has said—and all evidence points to the fact—that the charges against him are politically motivated.

Andrey has been harassed by the Turkmen government for his peaceful environmental work for years; his sentencing on October 29 is the culmination of a campaign by the authorities to discredit him. He has committed no crime.

The international environmental and human rights communities—from Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International to a host of respected organizations around the globe—are rallying in Andreya’s defense. It is critical that we continue to raise Andrey’s case on the international level, demonstrating to the government of Turkmenistan that civil society will not allow its members to be silenced.

Join us in telling the Turkmen government, the US government and the Russian government that you believe Andrey Zatoka is innocent and should be immediately and unconditionally released to the safety of his family!

Crude Accountability is launching a letter-writing campaign in defense of Andrey. You can help by writing a letter expressing your concern about his imprisonment. Addresses of key people to write to and sample letters are below. Please let us know if you need assistance or have any questions. And if you have the time to let us know you’ve written, that would be great, too.

Finally, if you’d like to write to Andrey and let him know he is not forgotten, you can send him a short note at: http://azatoka.org/release.php?id=38 (and he speaks English!).

Thank you in advance!

Kate Watters and Michelle Kinman
kate@crudeaccountability.org
michelle@crudeaccountability.org