DUSHANBE, March 30, 2011, Asia-Plus — A court in Dushanbe’s Firdavsi district has postponed a libel lawsuit by ex-member of the Majlisi Namoyandagon (Tajikistan’s lower chamber of parliament) and ex-candidate to parliament from Khatlon’s Vakhsh district Sayvali Nourov against the Dushanbe independent weekly,
Charkhi Gardoun
, again.
We will recall that
Charkhi Gardoun
on March 25 filed a counterclaim against Nourov and the presiding judge asked for additional time to consider the sides’ requests and adjourned the hearing until March 28.
On March 28, the trial was adjourned until April 4. According to
Charkhi Gardoun
, the judge ordered the adjournment after the weekly’s lawyer asked the court to study criminal proceedings instituted against Sayvali Nourov by the Khatlon prosecutor’s office in March 2010.
According to the weekly’s editorial board, representative of the plaintiff on March 28 asked the court to include also Article 316 (misuse of office) into the charge counts. “Meanwhile, the plaintiff has repeatedly stated that he has no any complaint against the management of the limited liability company, Charkhi Gardoun, which is founder of the weekly of the same name,” the source said.
On July 27, 2010
Charkhi Gardoun
published an article about criminal proceedings instituted against Sayvali Nourov. The ex-candidate considers that the article allegedly abases his honor and dignity. He demands that criminal proceedings are instituted against the weekly under the provisions of articles 135 (defamation) and 136 (insult).
A court in Bokhtar district of Khatlon province on January 12, 2011 found ex-candidate to parliament from the Vakhsh district, Sayvali Nourov, guilty and under the ruling handed down by the Bokhtar court Sayvali Nourov should pay a fee in an amount equal to 500 accounting indicators (the accounting indicator for this year is set at the rate of 35.00 somoni). Meanwhile, Sayvali Nourov does not agree with the court decision and appealed to the Khatlon regional court.
The trial began on August 16, 2010. Nourov’s case was remitted to the court in Bokhtar district for the second trial in late July. The Qurghon Teppa city court that initially considered the case closed it, but the Khatlon prosecutor’s office appealed against the decision of the Qurghon Teppa city court and the case was remitted for the second trial to the Bokhtar district court.
Nourov was charged with hooliganism (Article 237 of Tajikistan’s Penal Code) after assaulting an election official on election day, February 28, 2010. Tolib Khoujanazarov, the head of the electoral commission for polling station # 20 in the Vakhsh district, said that Nourov assaulted him on February 28 in front of several people after he let an elderly man cast a ballot on behalf of his sick wife.
Nourov confirmed that he saw the old man vote more than once and reported it as a violation of election rules. But he denied punching Khoujanazarov.
