DUSHANBE, February 25, 2013, Asia-Plus — Tajikistan’s daily newspaper,
Imrouz News
(News Today), has lost a libel case in a Dushanbe court Rustam Hukumov’s suit for moral damages over publication of an article critical of him.
The paper’s editor-in-chief Nazir Nusrat said he would lodge an appeal against the verdict.
The final verdict in a case against
Imrouz News
was issued in a court in Dushanbe’s Ismoili Somoni district on February 25.
The judge, Sherzod Nizomov, satisfied Rustam Hukumov’s suit against the newspaper for moral damages and ruled that
Imrouz News
must pay 50,000 somoni to him. Besides, the newspaper must apologize to Rustam Hukumov.
The verdict will come into force after 10 days, within which the newspaper has the right to lodge a complaint with the appeals court about its disagreement.
“We do not agree with the ruling handed down by the judge and we are currently preparing an appeal to the appeals court,” the
Imrouz News
editor-in-chief told Asia-Plus in an interview.
According to him, Rustam Hukumov himself was not present in the court room.
Rustam Hukumov, the son of Tajik Railways head Amonullo Hukumov, filed the lawsuit against
Imrouz News
on January 29, asking for 50,000 somoni as compensation of moral damage that was allegedly caused by an article published by the newspaper.
Rustam Hukumov strongly objects to the conclusion drawn by the journalist that he was allegedly released in exchange for the release of two pilots working for Rolkan Investment Ltd.
An article “Hukumov and Bakiyev Become Headache for Their Fathers” that was published in the newspaper last October has become the cause of the lawsuit. The article was about detention of the sons of Amonullo Hukumov and ex-Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev by law enforcement authorities of other countries.
We will recall that the Shchyolkovo court (Moscow oblast) sentenced Rustam Hukumov to 9½ years in prison on September 15, 2010. The sentence followed his conviction on the charge of drug smuggling. Rustam Hukumov, who is citizen of Russia, and three his friends were reportedly detained with nine kilograms of heroin in the Moscow oblast in June 2008. Investigation lasted for two years and he was sentenced to nine years. Narcotics had reportedly been transported to Russia by rail.
In the meantime, members of the board of the Moscow regional court considered the supervisory complaint in December and reportedly came to a unanimous opinion that the verdict against Rustam Hukumov was based on assumptions and allegations and that his guilt had not been proved during the trial. Moscow regional court board overturned the verdict against Rustam Hukumov and he was acquitted and released in connection with non-participation in that crime.
According to some Russian media outlets, the case arose in the autumn of 2011 when a Tajik court sentenced two pilots working for Rolkan Investment Ltd to 8 ½ years in prison each for flying illegally into Tajikistan and smuggling and smuggling aircraft parts. Some of them that time published allegations that by convicting the pilots the Tajik authorities tried to make pressure on Russia to release Rustam Hukumov. Russia demanded reconsideration of the pilots’ case and they were released on November 22. The Tajik court reduced the pilots” sentences to 21/2 years each. With the subtraction of two years under the amnesty, and six months for time served, the immediate release of the pilots was secured.
