DUSHANBE, February 2, 2011, Asia-Plus — The Prosecutor-General’s Office has summoned Asia-Plus’s reporter for already third time in less than a week over the “Investigation or Inquisition?” article. And it is not clear in what capacity the journalist is summoned to the prosecutor’s office. Moreover, the Asia-Plus lawyer is not allowed to attend those conversations; the Prosecutor-General’s Office justifies that by saying that there is no any criminal case and it is just a conversation.
The Prosecutor’s General Office has begun probe into the article titled “Investigation or Inquisition?” authored by Ramziya Mirzobekova that was published in Asia-Plus on December 21, 2010.
We will recall that the article is about use of torture by officers from the Interior Ministry body empowered to combat organized crime and its office in Sughd province during interrogations to extort confessions.
Anvar Taghoymurodov, the chief of the Interior Ministry Division for Combating Organized Crime (UBOP) on January 25 filed the defamation lawsuit in a court in Dushanbe’s Firdavsi district against the Asia-Plus newspaper, asking for 1 million somoni (equivalent to nearly US$225,000) as compensation for moral damage caused by the article published by the newspaper. The Interior Ministry high-ranking official who filed the lawsuit as private citizen claims that the article defames honor and reputation of UBOP.
Asia-Plus received the suit copy on January 25 and three days after that, Ramziya Mirzobekova was summoned to the Prosecutor-General’s Office.
Rajabali Yuldoshev, a senior aide to the prosecutor-general, said that they have begun probe into the article and demanded that the journalist give a written explanation for grounds for the article. When Mirzobekova wrote all that on paper, Yuldoshev demanded that she name her sources, but she refused, referring to Article 29 of the RT Law “On the Press and Other Mass Media,” which bans to name person, who provided information on condition of anonymity, unless the court orders to do so.
“The impression is that the prosecutor’s aide was interested in my anonymous sources rather then in the crimes mentioned in the article. For example, I presented him applications by persons who underwent tortures, but he even did not read them. At the same time, he tried to know names of my sources. Even when I referred to the law that I have the right not to name them, he tried to persuade me to disclose their names,” says Mirzobekova.
According to her, explanatory note to the prosecutor-general was not finished on the same day, and therefore, they agreed that she will come to the prosecutor’s office next time and answer other questions, which the prosecutor aide is interested in.
“Since the question is of interests of anonymous sources, we decided that the newspaper lawyer will go with me to the next meeting with the prosecutor aide, but Yuldoshev did not allow the lawyer to attend the meeting. He even refused to explain our lawyer on what grounds I was summoned to the prosecutor’s office. I refused to answer his questions without a lawyer,” Mirzobekova noted.
During the next meeting, Yuldoshev asked about experts who supposed that the suicide car bombing at UBOP’s office in Khujand was the response to cruel treatment of detainees. He, in particular, demanded that the journalist name those experts and asked whether she carried out a journalist investigation to check the experts’ opinions.
“I did not explain him what expert’s opinion means. I refused to answer this and other questions because all that was more like interrogation under torture,” said Mirzobekova, “Yuldoshev says that there is no any criminal case. But if criminal case is launched, all this will be used against me, I am afraid.”
Meanwhile, Asia-Plus has sent a request to the Prosecutor-General with solicitation to inform on what grounds and in what capacity the newspaper’s journalist is summoned to the prosecutor’s office.
The Asia-Plus editor Marat Mamadshoyev says he has the impression that they just want “to catch the newspaper in any inconsiderable details and to leave it holding the baby.” He stressed that Mirzobekova has stopped testifying at the newspaper’s insistence.
“In the near future, the newspaper will appeal to the president and the parliament in order that they will take notice of this situation,” Mamadshoyev said.
