Watchdog

About 20 leading nongovernmental organizations in Moldova have issued a public statement urging the government not to adopt a proposed ban on foreign funding for NGOs that are involved in "political activity."

The appeal issued on July 11 compares the Justice Ministry's proposal to a similar law in Russia, where many NGOs that receive funding from abroad are compelled to register as "foreign agents." That law has been widely criticized as part of a bid by Moscow to control civil society.

Moldova is the poorest country in Europe and at least 90 percent of its NGOs are believed to receive foreign funding.

Ilie Chirtoaca, a lawyer with the Institute of Legal Resources, told RFE/RL that no Western European countries had similar legislation and that the proposal violated Moldova's Association Agreement with the European Union.

Although Moldova's parliament and government are controlled by pro-European factions, the government has made a number of controversial legislative proposals in recent weeks, including a law on reforming the electoral system that was criticized by the Venice Commission, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), and the EU.

RFE/RL is calling for the release of a Turkmen journalist who was imprisoned two years ago on charges that human rights groups and a UN panel have denounced as politically motivated.

Saparmamed Nepeskuliev disappeared on July 7, 2015, and was held incommunicado for weeks before a court in tightly controlled Turkmenistan found him guilty of narcotics charges that rights groups say were trumped up in retaliation for his reporting.

"Saparmamed is being punished for his journalism," RFE/RL President Thomas Kent said on July 11. "He was convicted without a lawyer or public trial on charges that we believe are entirely fabricated, and he should be released immediately."

The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention designated Nepeskuliev's detention as "arbitrary" in December 2015, declaring that "he has been deprived of liberty for having peacefully exercised his right to freedom of expression."

In July 2016, seven members of the U.S. House of Representatives sent a letter to Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov calling Nepeskuliev's imprisonment "unlawful" and urging his immediate release.

In video reports for RFE/RL, Nepeskuliev documented decrepit infrastructure and economic inequality in western Turkmenistan.

Other RFE/RL reporters and contributors in Turkmenistan have faced physical attacks, threats, and prosecution on charges supporters say are groundless.

Turkmenistan is ranked "not free" in Freedom House's 2017 press-freedom survey, scoring at the bottom of the scale with 98 points out of 100, on par with North Korea.