MARY, Turkmenistan — Nearly 18 months after his August 2010 arrest in Turkmenistan, Protestant pastor Ilmurad Nurliev was among a group of about 230 prisoners freed under amnesty Feb. 18 from a labor camp. “He and the other prisoners were brought by special police train to Mary, and we rushed to the station to meet him,” his wife Maya said. “His release was so unexpected we forgot to get flowers. It is such a joy I can’t tell you.” He was given a four-year prison sentence in October 2010 on charges of swindling, which members of his congregation insist were fabricated to punish him for leading his unregistered church. Nurliev only learned he would be amnestied on the previous evening. “I want to thank you and everyone else who supported me and helped my release,” he said.
He will have to live under restrictions, reporting weekly to the police.
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