U.S. Agency Demands Probe Into RFE/RL Reporter's Death

Ogulsapar Muradova at a wedding in 2004 (Courtesy Photo)

September 15, 2006 (RFE/RL) -- The agency that governs official U.S. broadcasting abroad has demanded a transparent investigation into the death in custody of RFE/RL Turkmen correspondent Ogulsapar Muradova.

After news of Muradova's death emerged on September 14, the U.S. Broadcasting Board of Governors issued a resolution calling for an immediate, thorough, and impartial investigation.

The board, which oversees the operations of RFE/RL and VOA, said Turkmen authorities failed to provide Muradova with needed medical care.

Turkmen security officials have claimed Muradova died of natural causes.

But rights groups and relatives say there are indications she might have been killed after beginning a six-year jail sentence following her conviction for illegal possession of ammunition.

Western rights groups -- including Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, and Reporters Without Borders -- have blamed the government of Turkmen President Saparmurat Niyazov and described the charges as fabricated and her trial as a mockery of justice.

Relatives who were allowed to see Muradova's body at the morgue in Ashgabat said it bore marks on the neck and a "large wound" on the forehead.

Muradova, who was in her late 50s, was detained in mid-June along with several human rights activists.