Vienna, 30 April 2002 (RFE/RL) -- The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) today condemned Turkmenistan for what it called an "absolute lack of any freedom of expression." In a letter to Turkmenistan's foreign minister, OSCE Media Freedom Representative Freimut Duve wrote that he plans to commission a special report on the media in Turkmenistan due to the government's many violations of freedoms.
Duve noted that all copies of the Moscow-based newspaper "Komsomolskaya pravda" had been confiscated because of an article describing the situation in Turkmenistan, and that authorities blocked access to related internet news sites.
Duve said that restrictions on freedom of expression in Turkmenistan are unparalleled in the organization's 55 member countries in North America, Europe, and Central Asia.
Duve noted that all copies of the Moscow-based newspaper "Komsomolskaya pravda" had been confiscated because of an article describing the situation in Turkmenistan, and that authorities blocked access to related internet news sites.
Duve said that restrictions on freedom of expression in Turkmenistan are unparalleled in the organization's 55 member countries in North America, Europe, and Central Asia.