DUSAHNBE, January 12, Asia-Plus – A draft government-to-government agreement between Tajikistan and the Great Britain on BBC broadcasts in Tajikistan will be submitted for consideration to government in the near future, Asadullo Rahmonov, head of the State Committee for TV and Radio-broadcasting, remarked at news conference in Dushanbe today.
According to him, the committee specialists are currently completing the preparation of the document, which will define more precisely how and who will pay for BBC broadcasts in the territory of Tajikistan, what organization is authorized to grant broadcasting license, as well as grid and content of the broadcasts. Rahmonov stressed, “More precise definition of the grid and content of the broadcasts does not mean censorship; it is just what the Tajik legislation requires.”
We will recall that the suspension on January 10, 2006, followed a ratified Tajik media legislation requiring international broadcasters on FM to register with the Tajik Ministry of Justice and acquire a broadcasting license. However, although the BBC started the new process for registration, the 20-day deadline was unrealistic for a process. On January 18, the BBC made a formal complaint to the Tajik Government on the suspension.
In August 2006, Tajikistan’s state licensing commission formally denied the BBC a license, basing its decision on a complex interpretation of Tajik law. It was noted that the BBC failed to meet criteria outlined under Article 12 of the 2005 law On Licensing Certain Types of Activities. The legislation states that the “broadcasting of foreign media on the territory of Tajikistan is possible only on the basis of a bilateral inter-state agreement in the media sphere.” The commission insisted that such a pact was lacking in the BBC’s case.
The BBC has been broadcasting in Tajikistan since 1996 on medium wave. In 2004, the BBC launched two 24-hour FM relays, in Dushanbe and Khujand, with programs in Tajik (Persian); as well broadcasts in Russian and English. The BBC is currently the only international broadcaster available on FM in Tajikistan and has legal contract and license to broadcast.
