As a Baptist pastor fights for his life in a Turkmenistan prison, religious and civil leaders around the world are calling for his release.  The Reverend Shagildy Atakov, who was arrested on December 18, 1998, has reportedly endured torture, solitary confinement, and repeated beatings, and has told his wife that he does not think he has long to live.

“The Seventh-day Adventist Church joins its voice with those who protest this inhuman treatment of Reverend Atakov,” says John Graz, public affairs and religious liberty director for the Adventist Church worldwide.  “We cannot stay silent; all people of faith are diminished in the face of such brutal repression of religious freedom.”

Atakov, who is being held in the Seydy prison labor camp in northeastern Turkmenistan, is reportedly suffering from liver and kidney damage caused by frequent beatings.  Before his arrest, Atakov continued to preach to his congregation in the port city of Turkmenbasi despite repeated threats from city officials that he risked “legal charges.” Keston News Service reports that Atakov has refused an offer of freedom by the government amnesty commission, which was conditional upon his swearing an oath of allegiance to Turkmen president Saparmurat Niyazov and reciting the Muslim creed over the Koran.

Among those who have protested Atakov’s imprisonment is United States Helsinki Commission co-chairman, Representative Christopher Smith, who has called Atakov’s treatment “cruel and unjust.”  On Feburary 12, Ambassador Istvan Venczel, the head of the Ashgabat center of the Organization for Security and Cooperation, requested permission to visit Atakov in prison, but has received no reply from Turkmen officials.

Turkmenistan has gained notoriety within the international community for its systematic repression of religious minorities.  Only Sunni Muslims and the Russian Orthodox Church have official recognition as religious organizations; all other groups are prohibited from public worship and police frequently break up private meetings. 

“We will continue our efforts to shine a light on the plight of all who belong to minority religions in Turkmenistan—whether they be Hare Krishnas, Jews, members of Muslim sects, or Christians,” says Graz.  He notes that the Adventist Church in Turkmenistan continues to suffer its share of government-sponsored persecution, which includes the destruction of a church building in 1999, the arrest and three-day detention of a pastor, and the ongoing harassment of church members.