SECRETARY CLINTON: Thank you all very much and good afternoon. It is a pleasure, once again, to be back on the campus of the George Washington University, a place that I have spent quite a bit of time in all different settings over the last now nearly 20 years. I’d like especially to thank President Knapp and Provost Lerman, because this is a great opportunity for me to address such a significant issue, and one which deserves the attention of citizens, governments, and I know is drawing that attention. And perhaps today in my remarks, we can begin a much more vigorous debate that will respond to the needs that we have been watching in real time on our television sets.

The EU Heads of Mission strongly condemn the attack on Hikmatullo Saifullozoda, Chief Editor of Najot newspaper, and a member of the political council of the Islamic Rebirth Party of Tajikistan.

The European Union (EU) aims to redefine its development policy by the end of 2011. DW-AKADEMIE is actively following this process and has initiated a commentary on media and development.

The Photojournalism Course, offered by Transitions Online, aims to provide an introduction to taking, editing and selling photographs. It will focus on both classroom training sessions and practical shooting and editing sessions. Sample topics include lighting, post-production and multimedia presentations.

The Foreign Correspondent Training Course, offered by Transitions Online, aims to provide an introduction to international reporting, through training by respected foreign correspondents and a practical reporting project.

Transitions Online (TOL), a Prague-based international publishing and media development organization, is currently offering a distance course, focused on religion coverage designed for journalists and bloggers.

A court in Dushanbe has begun hearing a lawsuit by a regional Interior Ministry official against the opposition weekly «Asia Plus,» but threw out a counterclaim filed by the paper against the same official.

The Head of the OSCE Office in Tajikistan, Ambassador Ivar Vikki, today condemned the violent attack on Hikmatullo Saifullozoda, member of the Political Council of the Islamic Renaissance Party of Tajikistan and editor-in-chief of its newspaper, and called for the perpetrators to be brought to justice.

On 11 February, the Tajik Media Alliance held a forum in Dushanbe to discuss the contemporary threats to the freedom of speech and development of the media. The forum held in the National Press Center was supported by the Open Society Institute’s office in Tajikistan.

Tajikistan’s main opposition party accused the government today of violating civil rights and neglecting its people.