DUSHANBE, July 8, 2013, Asia-Plus – Tajik Writers’ Union, Tajik Painters’ Union, Tajik Composers’ Union, Tajik Architects’ Union, the Academy of Sciences of Tajikistan and Candidate of the Sciences in Medicine, Ms. Dilbar Abdiyeva, have filed a lawsuit against Ms. Olga Tutubalina, the editor of the
Asia-Plus
newspaper.
Tajik Writers’ Union is the main plaintiff while the others are co-plaintiffs
They filed the lawsuit in the Dushanbe Economic Court asking for 200,000 somoni as compensation for moral damage and demanding public apology.
The case stems from article by Olga Tutubalina published in the newspaper on May 29 this year. In her article about Tajik intelligentsia, Ms. Tutubalina used citation from Lenin’s letter to Maxim Gorky of September 15, 1919, “The intellectual forces of the workers and peasants are growing and getting stronger in their fight to overthrow the bourgeoisie and their accomplices, the educated classes, the lackeys of capital, who consider themselves the brains of the nation. In fact they are not its brains but its shit.”
Plaintiffs say the article by Olga Tutubalina insulted honor and dignity as well as reputation of a large social group of people and caused moral damage to them. Besides, they consider that Ms. Tutubalina distorted Lenin’s words in her article.
Meanwhile, Ms. Tutubalina says she will consider the possibility of launching counterclaim against the plaintiffs.
