Soltan Achilova in the hospital. Photo: hronikatm.com
Turkmen journalist Soltan Achilova and her relatives, who were forcibly hospitalized on November 20, have been released from the hospital to return home. The patients were discharged on November 25 in the afternoon, according to «Chronicles of Turkmenistan».
The publication asserts that doctors never provided a diagnosis for either Achilova or her family members, nor did they inform them of their test results. Moreover, despite the absence of signs or symptoms of infectious diseases, the journalist's apartment was subjected to mandatory disinfection.
According to media reports, Achilova's unjustified hospitalization had a single purpose — to prevent the activist from leaving Turkmenistan for Switzerland to attend a ceremony where she was to receive an international human rights award.
On November 20, the 75-year-old Achilova had planned to fly to Geneva with her daughter. However, at 6:30 a.m., just hours before the flight, four men in medical gowns and masks arrived at the journalist's home. They claimed suspicion of an infectious disease and insisted on urgent hospitalization. The woman's apartment keys were confiscated, and one of the visitors ominously remarked that she wouldn't need keys «in the other world».
It later emerged that the hospital management had received instructions the day before to clear several wards, indicating the pre-planned nature of the «operation.» Achilova's daughter and son-in-law, who had come to take her to the airport, were also sent for examination due to contact with their relative.
This is not the first instance of the activist being prevented from leaving the republic. In November of last year, her passport was deliberately damaged at the airport, barring her from flight check-in. Only after the intervention of international organizations did the Turkmen authorities issue new documents to Achilova and her daughter.
