A report released by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) on December 14 says Tajikistan held six journalists, making it the leading jailer in Central Asia. The report, in particular, notes that the prisoners were tried secretly behind closed doors in detention centers, not courts, and sentenced to lengthy prison terms amid allegations of torture.
Recall, six Tajik journalists and bloggers Mamadsulton Mavlonazarov, Abdulloh Ghurbati, Daler Imomali, Zavqibek Saidamini, Khoushrouz Jumayev and Ulfatkhonim Mamadshoyeva were sentenced to prison terms of between seven and twenty-one years.
They were charged with spreading false information, participation in extremism community and collaboration with banned organization. The journalists themselves and their relatives reject these charges as absolutely unfounded.
International groups have called on the Tajik government to release the detained reporters and end its campaign against the free press.
Ranked 152nd out of 180 countries in RSF's 2022 World Press Freedom Index, Tajikistan has fallen 36 places in the index since 2015.
Meanwhile, the CPJ report notes that the number of journalists jailed around the world set yet another record in 2022. In a year marked by conflict and repression, authoritarian leaders reportedly doubled down on their criminalization of independent reporting, deploying increasing cruelty to stifle dissenting voices and undermine press freedom.
The prison census accounts only for journalists in government custody and does not include those who have disappeared or are held captive by non-state actors. These cases are classified as “missing” or “abducted.”
The Committee to Protect Journalists’ annual prison census has found that 363 reporters were deprived of their freedom as of December 1, 2022 – a new global high that overtakes last year’s record by 20% and marks another grim milestone in a deteriorating media landscape.
This year’s top five jailers of journalists are Iran (62 journalists are in jail), China (43), Myanmar (42), Turkey (40), and Belarus (26), respectively.
CPJ defines journalists as people who cover the news or comment on public affairs in any media, including print, photographs, radio, television, and online. In its annual prison census, CPJ includes only those journalists who it has confirmed have been imprisoned in relation to their work.
CPJ’s list is a snapshot of those incarcerated at 12:01 a.m. on December 1, 2022. It does not include the many journalists imprisoned and released throughout the year. Journalists remain on CPJ’s list until the organization determines with reasonable certainty that they have been released or have died in custody.
