DUSHANBE, October 2008, Asia-Plus — Dushanbe economic court is considering a court case pitting the Dushanbe independent TV station, Somoniyon, against the Committee for TV and Radio-broadcasting. The trial began on October 8
Speaking in an interview with Asia-Plus, the Somoniyon lawyer Shuhrat Qudratov said that they are asking for 88,000 somoni in damages and disaffirmation of the licensing commission’s decision of May 2008 on refusing Somonyion’s application for reissuing its operating license.
The Dushanbe independent TV station Somoniyon was founded in 1991, and went on the air on September 9, 1993. But since March 2005, its activity has been suspended.
According to the licensing commission, the station’s license expired in late 2004, but that it was granted a three-month extension in connection with the parliamentary elections that were held in February 2005. According to the licensing commission representatives, the station then failed to submit the required paperwork and lost its broadcasting license, and tax police closed Somoniyon on May 17, 2005.
On December 24, 2007, Tajikistan’s High Economic Court handed down a ruling overturning the injunction granted by the Dushanbe City Court a month ago. The injunction had upheld ruling by the licensing commission of the Committee for TV and Radio-broadcasting on revoking Somoniyon’s operating license.
