In December 2005 editor-in-chief of Adalat (Justice) newspaper Khudaiberdy Kurbandurdiyev was sentenced to 8 years imprisonment.
The journalists were taken aback by this verdict brought by the court, or, to be more precise, by President S.Niyazov as in Turkmenistan all decisions on the cases of high-ranking officials are made by the President: the disgraced editor-in-chief was an ardent advocator of the current political regime.
He started his career as press-secretary in the Interior Ministry and was further promoted to the position of editor-in-chief. Kh.Kurbandurdiyev wholeheartedly supported the politics pursued by the President and was one of those who shaped and promoted the current ideology. He also made a hajj to Mecca. He appeared to have felt secure in his current post and could not have guessed that his career would end like this.
According to the official version, the editor-in-chief was charged with illegally issuing IDs to the two employees who were not on the staff of the Adalat newspaper. An investigation was launched in June. As was discovered from the report of General Prosecutor G.Atadjanova, these two were connected to the convicts charged with the assassination attempt on the life of Turkmenistan’s President.
However, many people are convinced that there is a different reason behind the conviction of the editor-in-chief. He was respected by his colleagues for his professional and personal qualities. The newspaper was popular in Turkmenistan and had the largest circulation. Thus, Kh.Kurbandurdiyev became a very famous person in the country, which S. Niyazov could not tolerate.
He started his career as press-secretary in the Interior Ministry and was further promoted to the position of editor-in-chief. Kh.Kurbandurdiyev wholeheartedly supported the politics pursued by the President and was one of those who shaped and promoted the current ideology. He also made a hajj to Mecca. He appeared to have felt secure in his current post and could not have guessed that his career would end like this.
According to the official version, the editor-in-chief was charged with illegally issuing IDs to the two employees who were not on the staff of the Adalat newspaper. An investigation was launched in June. As was discovered from the report of General Prosecutor G.Atadjanova, these two were connected to the convicts charged with the assassination attempt on the life of Turkmenistan’s President.
However, many people are convinced that there is a different reason behind the conviction of the editor-in-chief. He was respected by his colleagues for his professional and personal qualities. The newspaper was popular in Turkmenistan and had the largest circulation. Thus, Kh.Kurbandurdiyev became a very famous person in the country, which S. Niyazov could not tolerate.
