DUSHANBE, April 28, 2011, Asia-Plus — The trial of the Dushanbe independent weekly,
Charkhi Gardoun
, has been postponed again.
A court in Dushanbe’s Firdavsi district, which is considering 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
Charkhi Gardoun
, was expected to complete the consideration of the case on Wednesday but the trial was adjourned again.
The Charkhi Gardoun editor Mahmadali Maqsadulloh told Asia-Plus that judge presiding over the trial had decided to postpone the trial until a court in Khatlon’s Bokhtar district passes verdict on Nourov itself. “The appeals court is currently considering that case,” Maqsadulloh noted.
Sayvali Nourov demands that the
Charkhi Gardoun
editor Mahmadali Maqsadulloh is penalized 1,000 accounting indicators (current accounting indicator is set at the rate of 35.00 somoni) for publication of article that allegedly insulted and defamed him.
In the meantime, Maqsadulloh’s lawyer says that there are no any signs of defamation or insult in the article. The information in the article is based on results of criminal proceedings instituted against Sayvali Nourov, he said. “Moreover, the article does not assert or refute that Sayvali Nourov is hooligan, because a question mark is put after the headline.” The lawyer also noted that if Nourov considered that the article had caused any moral damage to him, the case must be considered in the civil court but not in the criminal court.
On July 27, 2010
Charkhi Gardoun
published an article about criminal proceedings instituted against Sayvali Nourov. The ex-candidate considered 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. 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.
