Boris Şyhmyradow
Boris Şyhmyradow | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Foreign Minister of Turkmenistan | |
| In office 1995–2000 | |
| President | Saparmyrat Nyýazow |
| Preceded by | Halykberdy Atayew |
| Succeeded by | Batyr Berdiýew |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 25 May 1949 Ashgabat, Turkmen SSR, Soviet Union |
| Spouse | Tatyana Shikhmuradova |
| Children | 2 |
| Alma mater | Moscow State University |
Boris Orazowiç Şyhmyradow (born 25 May 1949[1]) is a Turkmen politician who served as the minister of foreign affairs of Turkmenistan from 1995 to 2000. He was sentenced to life imprisonment after he was convicted of participation in a plot against President Saparmyrat Nyýazow in 2002. Little is known about his life in prison, and it is unknown whether he remains alive.[2]
Biography
[edit]Early life and diplomatic career
[edit]Şyhmyradow was born in Ashgabat to an Armenian mother and Turkmen father.[3] Beginning in 1971, he worked in the Soviet embassies to Pakistan and India. After Turkmenistan gained independence, in 1992 he became Deputy Foreign Minister and then First Deputy Foreign Minister; he also became Deputy Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers in the same year. He became Foreign Minister in 1995 and served in that position for five years. He subsequently became a Special Envoy dealing with Caspian Sea affairs and the normalisation of the situation in Afghanistan in June 2000. He served in that post until March 2001, when he became Turkmenistan's Ambassador to the People's Republic of China. He remained in the latter position until November 2001, when he announced his opposition to President Nyýazow.[1]
Assassination plot
[edit]Following an alleged assassination attempt against Nyýazow on 25 November 2002, Şyhmyradow was arrested in Ashgabat (he had previously been in exile in Russia) on 25 December 2002. It was alleged that, as part of the plot, he had entered Turkmenistan from Uzbekistan prior to the attempt on Nyýazow's life, and that, after it failed, he had taken refuge in the Uzbek embassy from 26 November to 7 December. Subsequently, according to Şyhmyradow's confession, he stayed in a friend's apartment until he was captured. This confession was shown on television; in it, he said “We are a criminal gang, a mafia. There is not a single normal person among us. We are all nonentities. I’m not a person who is able to rule the state, but on the contrary, a criminal who can only destroy the state ... While living in Russia, we were involved in drug use and, intoxicated, we recruited mercenaries to commit the terrorist act. Our task was to destabilize the situation in Turkmenistan, undermine the constitutional system and attempt to assassinate the president”, and he also praised Nyýazow very highly. Some suspected that torture was used to obtain the confession. On 30 December, Şyhmyradow was sentenced to 25 years in prison, the maximum possible punishment; however, the People's Council amended the criminal code shortly thereafter to enable life sentences for traitors, and Şyhmyradow's sentence was accordingly changed.[4]
Major Begenç Beknazarow, who is a nephew of Şyhmyradow, was also imprisoned in connection with the attempt on Nyýazow's life.
Whereabouts
[edit]Following Nyýazow's death in December 2006, his successor, Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow, was asked about the fates of Şyhmyradow and alleged co-conspirator Batyr Berdiýew at a visit to Columbia University in September 2007. Berdimuhamedow said that he thought they were still alive. He also mentioned the Gadyr Gijesi ("Night of Forgiveness"), an October occasion that is customarily marked by the release of prisoners, leading to speculation that Şyhmyradow might be released.[5] On the occasion, Şyhmyradow's wife and nephew were released on 8 October 2007, but Şyhmyradow himself was not.[6]
Nothing has been heard of Şyhmyradow since 2007; it is thought that he is still imprisoned or that he may have died in prison.[2][7] According to the other version, Şyhmyradow was secretly executed in the prison located in Türkmenbaşy between April 2003 and November 2005.[8]
In 2014, UN Human Rights Committee found Syhmyradow's rights to life and to fair trial to have been violated.[9]
References
[edit]- ^ a b Profile for Şyhmyradow Archived 15 February 2007 at the Wayback Machine, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.
- ^ a b "The government of Turkmenistan Should Implement the Decision of the UN Human Rights Committee on the Case of Boris Shikhmuradov". 9 November 2017.
- ^ Dilip Hiro, Inside Central Asia, pg. 217
- ^ Alec Rasizade, "Turkmenbashi and his Turkmenistan", Contemporary Review, 1 October 2003.
- ^ "Turkmenistan: Jailed opposition leaders Boris Shihmuradov and Batyr Berduyev are alive" Archived 5 June 2008 at the Wayback Machine, Vremya Novostei (ferghana.ru), 26 September 2007.
- ^ Bruce Pannier, "Turkmenistan Frees 9,000 Inmates, But Many High-Profile Political Prisoners Still Jailed", Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 9 October 2007.
- ^ Roger Kangas and Brianne Todd, "Berdimuhamedov's Campaign for Political Pluralism and the Daikhan Party: Farmers of Turkmenistan Unite", Eurasia Daily Monitor, volume 7, issue 111, 9 June 2010.
- ^ "Борис Шихмурадов был убит во время правления Ниязова". 12 March 2017.
- ^ Communication No. 2069/2011. Views adopted by the Committee at its 112th session(7–31 October 2014)