DUSHANBE, October 25, 2013, Asia-Plus — A court tin Dushanbe’s Ismoili Somoni district has thrown down a lawsuit filed by the Islamic Revival Party (IRP) against the Committee for TV and Radio-broadcasting and three national TV channels, IRP’s defense lawyer, Buzurgmehr Yorov, told Asia-Plus on October 25.
“The first deputy chairman of the Ismoili Somoni court, Hofiz Temirov, who presided over the trial, has justified the decision by saying that that TV programs containing materials discrediting the IRP have not be produced by journalists from the national TV channels,” said Yorov, “According to him, those material were produced and financed by local authorities.” Buzurgmehr Yorov denounced the ruling and vowed to appeal to higher court.
The IRP filed the defamation lawsuit on September 19 and the first hearing over the lawsuit was held on October 8.
The Committee for TV and Radio-broadcasting under the Government of Tajikistan is the defendant and three national television channels – Safina, Shabaaki Avval and Jahonnamo – are co-defendants.
In its lawsuit, the IRP noted that the Committee for TV and Radio-broadcasting spread anti-IRP propaganda through the national TV and radio stations as the pre-election campaign started in the country. The IRP asked the defendant to officially apologize and stop the information campaign discrediting the Islamic Revival Party.
Founded in October 1990, the Islamic Revival Party of Tajikistan was registered on December 4, 1991. It was banned by the Supreme Court in June 1993 and legalized in August 1999. Its official newspaper is
Najot
(Salvation). According to some sources, IRP now has some 50,000 members. It won two seats in the 2010 parliamentary elections. The Islamic Revival Party of Tajikistan is the only Islamic party registered in CIS Central Asia.
