DUSHANBE, March 4, 2013, Asia-Plus — Independent Dushanbe newspaper,
Imrouz News
(News Today), made a statement today regarding defamation ruling handed down against it in closed court proceedings on February 25.
The newspaper, in particular, notes that the ruling handed down by Mr. Justice Sherzod Nizomov, the judge at a court in Dushanbe’s Ismoili Somoni district, is unfair and illegal.
The statement stressed that closed court proceedings and refusal of numerous applications lodged by the newspaper cast doubt on the court ruling.
The statement has been sent to the Chairman of the Supreme Court of Tajikistan, Minister of Justice, UN Resident Coordinator, Head of the OSCE office in Tajikistan, heads of Tajik Journalists’ Union and the National Association of Independent Media of Tajikistan (Nansmit), ambassadors of the United, the United Kingdom, Iran and Russia to Tajikistan and human rights organizations active in the country.
We will recall that the Ismoili Somoni District court in Dushanbe ordered
Imrouz News
to pay 50,000 somoni in damages in a libel case filed by Rustam Hukumov, the son of the head of Tajik Railways (Tajikistan’s state rail company) Amonullo Hukumov. The court also ordered the newspaper to publicly apologize to the plaintiff.
The case, filed by Rustam Hukumov in January stems from 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.
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) expressed concern about the defamation ruling handed down against
Imrouz News
. “We are disturbed by the closed nature of the trial against
Imrouz News
and concerned that the damages awarded could have a chilling effect on local independent media,” said CPJ”s Europe and Central Asia program research associate, Muzaffar Suleymanov. “Those entrusted with public office in Tajikistan cannot expect to be exempt from public scrutiny.” The statement says that CPJ research shows that although Tajikistan decriminalized libel last year, state officials regularly file defamation complaints against news outlets in retaliation for publishing critical stories.
