24 Aug 11 | Index Index, minipost
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.
17 Aug 11 | Index Index, minipost
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.
08 Feb 11 | Index Index, minipost
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“.
19 Oct 10 | Index Index, minipost
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.
