DUSHANBE, March 1, Asia-Plus — Today is the 61st birthday of known Tajik culture figure Muhiddin Olimpour, who was killed in Dushanbe during the country’s civil war in mid-1990s.
We will recall that Muhiddin Olimpour, head of the BBC’s Persian Service bureau in Dushanbe and known Tajik culture figure, was found dead near campus of Tajik National University with a gunshot wound to the head in December 1995.
On July 29, 2003, Tajikistan”s Supreme Court convicted two suspects in the murders of Muhiddin Olimpour and Viktor Nikulin, a correspondent with the Russian television network ORT, who was also killed during the country”s civil war in the mid-1990s.
Narzibek Davlatov and Akhtam Toirov were sentenced to 15 and 22 years in prison, respectively, for serving as accomplices in the slayings. The two men were arrested in October 2001, and their trial began in June 2003.
The convictions come a week after a Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) delegation traveled to Tajikistan and called on the government to investigate and prosecute those responsible for the murders of dozens of journalists during the country”s 1992-1997 civil war.
According to the National Association of Independent Media of Tajikistan (Nansmit), 73 journalists were murdered during Tajikistan’s civil war (1992-1997).
According to Nansmit, the Muhiddin Olimpour Foundation, established under support of BBC in 2004, will organize training course on photojournalism in May this year.
