In the Turkmen capital of Ashgabat, a famous artist and entertainer, among others, was sentenced to two years in prison for “sodomy” after raids in March.

In April, the independent magazine Turkmen.news reported on the arrest of a popular entertainer as well as numerous other men involved in Turkmenistan’s show business or fashion elite. According to the report, the arrest took place in the second half of March in Ashgabat, the capital of Turkmenistan. Together with the artist, his friend and about a dozen other people were arrested. The names of at least three detainees, including the entertainer, are available to Turkmen.news, but for ethical reasons it was decided not to publish them.

The detainees had lawyers, but it was difficult to convince them to take the case at all. Very often lawyers refuse to defend defend defendants under Article 135: Either they consider the defense pointless or they find it shameful to be associated with such cases.

While some of the detainees were released after paying bribes, the entertainer and several others were charged with sodomy. According to Human Rights Watch, a Turkmen court sentenced the man to two years in prison on 7 May.

Homophobic society and fundamentalist interpretation of Islam

Apart from Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan is the only other country in Central Asia where consensual sexual intercourse between men is prohibited. Article 135 of the Turkmen Penal Code provides for sentences of up to two years’ imprisonment or confinement in a psychiatric institution for between two and five years. The queer community in this predominantly Muslim country lives underground, because homosexuality is not only a criminal offence but also a major social taboo. Again and again, victims report of forced marriages for fear of clan liability or social exclusion (we reported).

Even state-sanctioned murder of gays?

Last year in November, the case of the young Turkmen doctor Kasymberdy Garayev became known (we have reported). Garayev, who publicly confessed his homosexuality in order to raise the issue of homosexuality in Turkmenistan on an international level, was summoned to a police station after his outing and has since been considered missing – along with his parents and siblings.

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