WRITTEN QUESTION E-0453/03 by Graham Watson (ELDR) to the Commission. Boris Shikhmuradov.
Date: 2003-02-19
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: EU relations, Turkmenistan, independence of the judiciary, opposition, right to justice

C 84 E/716

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

3.4.2004

Answer given by Mr Nielson on behalf of the Commission

(14 March 2003)

Please refer to decision by the European Ombudsman on complaint 983/29.10.96/ABU/KENYA/XD/BB
against the Commission of 29 April 1999, in which the Ombudsman concluded that ‘on the basis of the
European Ombudsman’s enquiries into this complaint, there appears to have been no mal-administration
by the European Commission, and the European Ombudsman has therefore decided to close the case’.

Consequently, it is not correct to say that the Commission or its servants caused any damage, destruction
and contamination to the water supply, health, or the general environment affecting local people.

This not withstanding the Commission Delegation in Kenya has repeatedly advised and continues to advise
the local community about the funding possibilities for community based projects through the Community
Development Trust Fund (CDTF) programme, which is financed from the European Development Fund.
The fund very successfully aims to help local communities to meet some of their priority needs (health,
water, education, roads, income generating activities, etc). Furthermore, the Delegation facilitated contacts
between the local community and CDTF and provided them with an outline proposal for a community
water project in their areas prepared by a local engineering and development consultancy.

Unfortunately, the local community to date failed to introduce any application for project funding with
CDTF.

(2004/C 84 E/0804)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0453/03

by Graham Watson (ELDR) to the Commission

(19 February 2003)

Subject: Boris Shikhmuradov

Is the Commission aware of the case of Boris Shikhmuradov, the Turkmen opposition leader, charged with
the attempted assassination of President Nyazov?

Shikhmuradov has been sentenced to life imprisonment by the Halk Maslikhat, Turkmenistan’s supreme
representative body, and therefore has not received a fair trial through the court process.

Can the Commission bring pressure to bear on the Turkmenistan authorities requesting observation of
international standards in allowing the defendant access to a fair trial?

Answer given by Mr Patten on behalf of the Commission

(5 March 2003)

The case of Boris Shikmuradov is well-known to the Commission. The Union has expressed its concerns in
demarches on this case as well as on the other human rights cases in Turkmenistan following the
assassination attempt against President Niyazov on 25 November 2002.

Mr Shikmuradov was a direct interlocutor with the Commission at the time he was Foreign Minister of his
country. His video-taped confession and his trial, organised five days after his arrest, without proper
defence and international assistance, is not in line with Turkmenistan commitments in the Organisation for
Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). The Commission agrees with the assessment
that
Mr Shikhmuradov has not received a fair trial. More generally, the Union’s concern, expressed in the
OSCE Permanent Council, is with the methods used in the investigation and follow-up to the events of
25 November 2002. While conscious of
the absence of political dialogue within our Trade and
Cooperation Agreement, with Turkmenistan, the Commission will continue to exert pressure on this and
other human rights issues through diplomatic channels.