DUSHANBE, September 27, 2010, Asia-Plus – On Monday September 27, heads of a number of independent media and media organizations expressed concern over actions of the leadership of the Ministry of Defense that has accused independent media of provocations and lack of professionalism against the backcloth of the recent events in the country.
On Saturday September 25, Tajik national TV repeatedly showed a video prepared by the Ministry of Defense (MoD) press service, in which the MoD press service accuses independent media of Tajikistan of distorted coverage of events that are taking place in the east of the country, a statement released by the independent media and media organizations on September 27 said.
“We consider this video to be biased and not meeting requirements of the code of ethics for officers. By broadcasting this video the MoD press service showed its incompetence and came out of terms of reference, and on the other hand, it violated professional rights of journalists and constitutional rights of citizens,” the statement said.
The statement authors consider that by that way the MoD tries to cover its shortcomings and errors.
“The MoD tries to lay responsibility for events in the region on independent media. The last, for their part, perform their duty and mission within the framework of the country’s legislation and professional ethics and impartially cover events in the east of the country.
We consider the MoD attempt of persecution and humiliation of journalists to be inappropriate and demand apology from the ministry’s senior representatives through media. Otherwise, we will be forced to use our constitutional right and protect our professional honor and dignity. We are sure that the country’s political leadership realizes significance of independent media for development of democratic society in Tajikistan and will give an objective appraisal of actions of the leadership of the Ministry of Defense.”
The statement, signed by 17 heads of independent media and media organizations of Tajikistan, also calls on all the government institutions and public associations of Tajikistan as well as political forces and media of the country to use all their means in that direction and make contribution to development of freedom of speech in he country as one of fundamentals of democratization of society.
