DUSHANBE, February 5, 2010, Asia-Plus — Increasing cases of filing lawsuits against independent media in Tajikistan may affect the freedom of speech situation in the country and cause self-censorship among journalists, head of the National Association of Independent Media of Tajikistan (Nansmit), Nouriddin Qarshiboyev, remarked at a roundtable meeting in Dushanbe on February 5.
Organized by the Office of the Institute for War and Peace Reporting (IWPR) in Dushanbe in cooperation with the National Association of Independent Media of Tajikistan (Nansmit), the meeting, formally titled “Legal Protection of Journalists in Tajikistan,” brought together representatives from government institutions, media organizations, journalists as well as a number of international organizations and diplomatic missions to discuss various aspect of legal protection of journalists in the country as this issue is becoming more and more topical against the background of increasing number of lawsuits filed against independent media and the upcoming parliamentary elections in the country.
Concerning the lawsuit filed by judges against the Dushanbe independent weeklies
Asia-Plus
,
Farazh
and
Ozodagon
, Qarshiboyev noted that instead of paying attention to facts mentioned in a statement made by lawyer Solehjon Jurayev, the judges decided to take vengeance on the weeklies for publication of the statement. “I am sure that such lawsuits will affect the freedom of speech situation in the country and cause self-censorship among Tajik journalists and media,” he said.
The Tajik media watchdog head added that such lawsuits may undermine Tajikistan’s prestige on international arena.
Ms. Nargis Zokirova, director of Tajikistan’s Bureau on Human Rights and Rule of Law (BHR) noted that the Bureau is seriously concerned over the emerged situation. “We have decided to prepare report on this subject and send it to the UN Special Rapporteur for Human Rights,” she said.
Ms. Mahbuba Abdulloyeva, representative form the Delegation of the European Commission to Tajikistan, noted that ambassadors of the European countries and chiefs of EU missions in Tajikistan are holding meeting in Dushanbe today. During the meeting, along with other issues they will also touch upon the situation that emerged around the mentioned newspapers, she noted.
Speaking at the meeting, representative of the U.S. Embassy in Dushanbe, Charles Martin, expressed concern that such lawsuits may result in newspapers’ publication ceasing. According to him, these lawsuits may seriously affect freedom of media in the country. “We trace events and plan to inform the Government of Tajikistan of our concern over this issue,” Mr. Martin said.
Tajik Journalists’ Union head Akbarali Sattorov noted that the government is already in the know and “we hope the issue will be solved.”
We will recall that Tajik officials have brought actions against a number of independent print media.
Thus, a Dushanbe court on January 27 upheld the verdict against the independent weekly newspaper
Paykon
(Arrowhead). In October 2009, Dushanbe”s Firdavsi district court found the weekly guilty of libel and ordered it to pay 300,000 somoni to the state agency Tajikstandart, which monitors the quality of imported goods. Last summer, “Paykon” printed an open letter from a group of Tajik businessmen to President Emomali Rahmon in which they accused Tajikstandart of corruption and hindering the development of trade in Tajikistan. Tajikstandart”s management then filed the libel lawsuit.
On January 28, the Ministry of Agriculture brought a libel suit against the newspaper
Millat
(Nation) in which it is demanding 1 million somoni in damages.
On January 29, two judges from the Supreme Court and a judge from the Dushanbe city court filed lawsuit against three other leading newspapers –
Asia-Plus
,
Ozodagon
and
Farazh
– and lawyer Solehjon Jurayev. Claiming that the newspapers published biased and defamatory articles about them in late January, the judges are asking for a total of 5.5 million somoni in damages. Plaintiffs also requested that the newspapers be closed pending the outcome of the case. The first court hearing is scheduled for February 23.
