Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has accused the autocratic ex-Soviet country of Turkmenistan of banning the media from using the word “coronavirus.”
According to reports, the word has also been removed from all health information literature distributed in schools, health facilities and workplaces. The country is yet to report any cases of the virus despite its neighbour Iran having over 44,000.
The media freedom organisation said that anyone found wearing a face mask or talking about the virus was at risk of being arrested by plain-clothes policemen. This is part of an effort to suppress all information about the pandemic- a move that is putting citizens of Turkmenistan in danger, according to RSF.
The Turkmen authorities have lived up to their reputation by adopting this extreme method for eradicating all information about the coronavirus,” said Jeanne Cavelier, the head of RSF’s Eastern Europe and Central Asia desk.
“This denial of information not only endangers the Turkmen citizens most at risk but also reinforces the authoritarianism imposed by President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov. We urge the international community to react and to take him to task for his systematic human rights violations.”
Turkmenistan is ranked last in the RSF World Press Freedom Index and is considered one of the most closed countries in the world. It has been ruled by President Berdymukhamedov who has been in power since 2006 and has styled himself as the “Father Protector” of the country.
RSF reportsbase that the government controls all domestic media and continues to step up its persecution of those who clandestinely report for exile media outlets. The few Internet users can only access a highly-censored version of the Internet, usually in cafés where they must first present identification.
