Index on Censorship » Tajikistan

Tajikistan: Access to Facebook, news sites blocked

Alice Purkiss — Mon, 05 Mar 2012 14:51:25 +0000

Local access to Facebook and two Russian-language websites has been blocked in Tajikistan, following articles critical of the country’s long serving president. Users attempting to access Facebook, tjknews.com or zvezda.ru are automatically re-directed to the home page of their provider. The shutdown was ordered by the state-run communications service after the two websites published articles critical of President Imomali Rakhmon. Several Facebook groups openly discuss politics and some users have been critical of the authorities.

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Tajikistan: Tajik journalist faces 16 years in jail

Alice Purkiss — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 13:23:49 +0000

A Tajik journalist is facing 16 years in prison, following charges of defamation. Makhmadyusuf Ismoilov, a reporter for the independent weekly paper Nuri Zindagi, was arrested for defamation, insult, and incitement following an article in which he criticised government and law enforcement officials in the Asht district in the northern Sogd region of Tajikistan. During his hearing yesterday, prosecutors asked the court to sentence the journalist to 16 years imprisonment, while Ismiolov’s lawyer claimed investigators had failed to prove he was guilty, and called for his release. The next court hearing in the case is scheduled for 3 October.

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Tajikistan: BBC reporter claims he was tortured

Marta Cooper — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 12:04:20 +0000

A BBC World Service reporter who was arrested in Tajikistan this summer has said he was burned with lit cigarettes and beaten while detained. Although the specific charges against journalist Urunboy Usmanov remain unclear, he has been accused in the country’s state media of being a member of Hizb ut-Tahr an Islamist organisation which is banned in the country.

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Tajikistan: BBC journalist appears in court

Marta Cooper — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 10:28:50 +0000

A BBC World Service journalist who was arrested in Tajikistan a month ago appeared in court yesterday. Although the specific charges against reporter Urunboy Usmanov remain unclear, he has been accused in the country’s state media of being a member of Hizbut-Tahrir, an extreme Islamist organisation which is banned in the country.

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Opposition journalist beaten in Tajikistan

Intern — Tue, 08 Feb 2011 15:56:33 +0000

An opposition journalist has been hospitalised after being attacked near his home in Dushanbe. Khikmatullo Saifullozoda is the editor of the Nadzhot newspaper, which is owned by the Islamic Renaissance of Tajikistan party. He sustained a concussion and his face was been badly disfigured in the incident. The Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe have raised the issue of the “increasing pressure on independent media” in Tajikistan. The chairman of the National Association of Independent Media has confirmed that “journalists and publications are threatened (and) questioned“.

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Free Microsoft licences to help combat censorship

Intern — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 15:49:32 +0000

Microsoft is extending its program of giving free software licences to non-profit organisations. The initiative was first applied to Russia, after it was discovered that authorities were using software piracy inquiries as a method of suppressing independent media outlets and advocacy groups. The program will now include 500,000 NGOs in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, China, Malaysia, and Vietnam. Prior to the announcement NGOs could only obtain a free licence if they were aware of the program and followed the necessary procedure. According to Microsoft’s official blog announcement, the unilateral licence will last until 2012.

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Tajiki independent weekly fined, more lawsuits follow

Intern — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 17:48:00 +0000

Lawsuits were launched against four leading newspapers following a Dushanbe court’s decision to uphold a damages award against independent news weekly Paykon. The damages award of 300,000 somoni (€49,000) was confirmed on 26 January. Paykon published an open letter to President Emomali Rakhmon from a number of businessmen accusing Tajikstandart, a government agency, of corruption and incompetency. Nuriddin Qarshiboev, the chairman of Tajikistan’s Association of Independent Media, predicted the media would be targeted in the run-up to the parliamentary elections scheduled for February 28.

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