A tall, radiant-skinned blonde bombshell whose charity events are graced by French celebrities, Uzbekistan’s Lola Karimova-Tillyeva is the very image of success — provided her father stays out of the picture, RFE/RL’s Uzbek Service reports.

The 33-year-old daughter of Uzbekistan’s brutal authoritarian ruler Islam Karimov, Karimova-Tillyeva recently filed suit against the independent French website Rue89.com over an article that allegedly identified her as the daughter of a dictator and characterized her charity work in France as an attempt to whitewash the reputation of Uzbekistan’s repressive ruling regime.

Karimova-Tillyeva charges that one of the articles written by Rue89.com reporter Augustin Scalbert about her charity work is defamatory. Scalbert says her lawyers are seeking 30,000 euros ($48,000) in moral damages.

Scalbert believes the case has more to do with the media situation in France than it does with the word «dictator,» telling RFE/RL that Karimova-Tillyeva «doesn’t like the fact that we write about Uzbekistan in the right ways,» let alone discussing the 2005 events in Andijon, when thousands of Uzbek protesters were massacred by government forces, as well as citing other instances of human rights abuse.

«The mainstream French press doesn’t do that,» Scalbert says, noting that the major French television station TF1 has vested commercial interests in Central Asia with French industrial group Bouygues — a major stakeholder in the company — invested heavily in Turkmenistan, another autocrat-run country with a poor human rights record.
Gilles Lordet, a director of research at Paris-based press-freedom advocate Reporters Without Borders, was dismissive of the case, telling RFE/RL that Karimova-Tillyeva is in for «a lot» of work «if she wants to sue all the newspapers that think that Karimov is a dictator.»

Rumor has it that Karimova-Tillyeva, Uzbekistan’s ambassador to UNESCO in Paris, is competing with her glamorous older sister Gulnara Karimova, Uzbek ambassador to United Nations organizations in Geneva, for influence.

Both sisters are famous in Europe for their extravagant lifestyles, with Gulnara Karimova named one of the «World’s Worst Daughters» by «Foreign Policy» magazine in 2009. She is currently one of the richest women in Switzerland and owns real estate worth tens of millions of dollars.

Is this little sister’s attempt to play catch-up? Only if the Parisian court — unfortunately for Karimova-Tillyeva, it’s one that specializes in freedom-of-speech issues — decides to play ball. The trial starts on May 19.

http://www.rferl.org/content/uybek_presidents_daughter_sues_french_website_for_defamation/3558149.ht

Reporters Without Borders today denounced as “illegal and absurd” the efforts of the Tajik government to get dissident journalist Dodojon Atovulloev forcefully returned to Tajikistan from his exile in Russia and Germany and called on these two governments to protect him.

The state prosecutor in the Tajik capital, Dushanbe, sent an extradition request to the Russian authorities today for the journalist and opposition leader, who is a political refugee in Germany (living in Hamburg) and currently in Moscow.

“The request is absurd,” the worldwide press freedom organisation said. “Since he obtained political asylum in Germany in 2002, Tajikistan and Russia cannot legally touch him. We hope the Russian authorities, in accordance with international law and as they have done before, will reject the request.”

“A political refugee can under no circumstances be sent back to his country of origin and the Tajik request for this to be done, in violation of basic international law, is very worrying,” it said.

Atovulloev is founder and editor of the opposition monthly Charogi Ruz (Daylight), the first privately-owned publication set up after independence in 1991 and a strong critic of the regime. He was forced to flee abroad in 2001 after getting death threats and being accused of insulting the president and supposedly “inciting national, racial and religious hatred.” The newspaper is now based in Moscow after its Dushanbe offices were ransacked.

Family members in Tajikistan were imprisoned for several weeks and death threats to Atovulloev continued. He was arrested at Moscow airport in July 2001 and only an energetic campaign by human rights groups prevented him from being sent back to Dushanbe.

The charges against him were initially dropped, but the newspaper continued its criticism and Atovulloev set up an opposition party, ’Vatandor’, in 2007. New charges of insulting the president and “public appeals for violent overthrow of the constitutional order” were laid against him in 2008 and are the basis of the extradition request announced by prosecutor-general Sherhon Salimzoda today.

Press freedom shrank in Tajikistan last year and the authorities are now very keen to silence Atovulloev, who Salimzoda’s predecessor, Bobojon Bobohonov, called a “news terrorist” in 2008. While media outlets mentioning armed clashes in the country’s Rasht Valley last September were clamped down on, Atovulloev called the incidents “a return to civil war.”

http://en.rsf.org/russie-extradition-request-for-dissident-12-04-2011,40020.html

The International Journalism MA at City University London’s world-renowned Graduate School of Journalism is designed to equip you to start a career in international news reporting, or return to a career with enhanced skills and understanding.

It is designed for students who do not live in the UK. You will leave with contacts in countries around the world, with insight into international news, and with a more profound understanding of other cultures.

You will benefit from:

• A prime location in the heart of London’s media district

• Excellent graduate prospects, with students working for international news organisations like Al-Jazeera, CNN, APTN, BBC World Service, and Dow Jones

• An international focus, 89% of 2010/11 students are from outside the UK

• Experienced faculty and world-famous guest speakers. Recent visitors to the course have included senior figures from Reuters, Channel 4 News, Sky News, APTN, Reuters Iraq and A-24 African network

Places available for the 2011/12 class.

http://ijnet.org/node/92366

Deadline:01/06/11
Kurt Schork Memorial Fund (KSMF)

Submissions are now open for this year’s Kurt Schork Awards in International Journalism, honoring international freelance reporting and local journalists who face risks in covering the news.

Named in honor of the American freelance journalist killed in a military ambush while on assignment for Reuters in Sierra Leone in 2000, the awards are made annually by the Kurt Schork Memorial Fund (KSMF).

Now in its 10 year, entries are being accepted for two categories: freelance journalists covering international news and local reporters covering events in their home country or region. Each winner receives a cash prize of USD$5,000, awarded at a ceremony in London in November.

The stories can be about conflict, human rights, cross-border issues or any controversial matter in a particular country or region. Each submission must demonstrate professionalism, meet international journalistic standards and provide evidence that courage and determination were required to cover the story.

2010 winners were Adrian Mogos (Romania) for his stories on the new slave trade in Eastern Europe and UK freelancer Stephen Gray.

For more information, click here: http://www.ksmfund.org/submission.html

http://ijnet.org/opportunities/kurt-schork-awards-international-journalism-accepting-entries-worldwi

Deadline:01/07/11
UNICEF

Broadcasters who covered the International Children’s Day of Broadcasting can enter a UNICEF competition.

The 2011 International Children’s Day of Broadcasting Awards, sponsored by UNICEF, honor radio and television broadcasters whose programming best reflects the theme: “Girls Are…Boys are…” examining what innate behaviors, abilities and interests correspond to being a boy or girl.

To be eligible for an award, broadcasts must have taken place on or around March 6 in conjunction with the 2011 International Children’s Day of Broadcasting.

Entries will be judged in each of UNICEF’s eight global regions.

The top-scoring entries in each region will compete for a global award. In 2010, the global awards went to programs in Togo, South Africa and Nigeria.

For more information, click here: http://www.unicef.org/media/media_58051.html

http://ijnet.org/opportunities/unicef-awards-international-childrens-day-broadcasts-open-worldwide

Deadline:01/05/11
Third International Festival of Literature and Culture

The third International Festival of Literature and Culture for Slavic Traditions is accepting entries for its literary competition.

Categories include poetry, prose, translations, drama and more. The festival aims to promote the preservation and development of the Russian language, traditions and networking between poets, writers, playwrights and translators worldwide who write in Russian worldwide.

The program of the event includes the meetings with publishers, workshops and other events. The event is sponsored by a number of media and publishing houses. The winners will get partial reimbursement of their expenses connected with their attendance at the festival.

For more information (in Russian), click here:

http://ijnet.org/opportunities/literary-competition-slavic-tradition-festival-opens-worldwide

RECOMMENDATIONS

of participants of the seminar “Legal and ethical bases for media activities in Tajikistan” within the framework of the Project “Promoting development of legal and ethical standards in Tajik journalism” organized by NANSMIT, Internews Network and USAID.
Kurgan-Tube
5 April 2011

Expressing concern about the growing number of legal persecutions of the media and journalists, representatives of the Tajik mass media with different forms of property, public officials and employees of international and public organizations have developed the following recommendations:

To the mass media and media organizations:

— to enhance interrelations and consolidate efforts ensuring solidarity among journalists;

— to acknowledge ethical standards acceptable for all media;

— to strengthen responsibility of journalists and the media for veracity and objectivity of the information they publish;

— to ensure access of the media and journalists to legal services and legal data bases;

— to introduce the position of legal consultant in the media;

— to conduct regular online competitions promoting and strengthening professionalism among journalists;

— to improve working conditions and professional environment for journalists within every medium;

— to promote and support improvement of professional training of young journalists in universities.

NANSMIT

Deadline:15/10/11
Russian American magazine Florida

Russian-American magazine Florida is accepting short stories in Russian for a competition.

Called «Next Stop,» the theme of the competition includes traveling, making friends on the road and the theme of near and far. Experienced authors and beginners are encouraged to apply.

The winners will get cash prizes, ranging from USD$500 to USD$1,000.

For more information, (in Russian) click here: http://www.florida-rus.com/09-10/konkurs.htm

http://ijnet.org/opportunities/russian-american-magazine-accepting-entries-worldwide

Deadline:20/04/11
Transitions Online (TOL)

Media professionals and citizen journalists from Central Asia — Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Turkmenistan — are encouraged to apply for a distance learning course about improving coverage of minority groups.

Called “Painting a Fairer Picture: Improving the Coverage of Ethnic and other Minorities,” it was developed by Transitions Online (TOL), a Prague-based international publishing and media development organization. Citizens of those countries who live elsewhere are also invited to apply. Participation is free of charge.

During the course, participants will take five theoretical modules. Each module consists of a text on a specific subject, questions about the text and a practical writing assignment. Throughout the course an experienced trainer will answer questions and provide detailed feedback on their writing. The working language is Russian and the course lasts five weeks.

Participants who complete the training successfully will be awarded TOL certificates. The top performers will be eligible for full scholarships to TOL journalism training courses in Prague. In addition, successful participants will be offered an opportunity to become paid contributors on Central Asian issues to TOL’s award-winning internet magazine.

The National Endowment for Democracy, a private, nonprofit organization created in 1983 to strengthen democratic institutions around the world, sponsors this project.

For more information (in Russian), click here: http://www.tol.org/client/training/course/21726-painting-a-fairer-picture-improving-the-coverage-of-ethnic-and-other-minorities.html

http://ijnet.org/opportunities/online-course-improving-journalism-coverage-minorities-offered-centra

As much as social media can be a blessing for activists, it can also be their undoing. For a recent example, see how the Tunisian authorities compromised activists’ Facebook accounts.

Access Now, an NGO that campaigns for digital freedom, has just launched a handy and concise how-to guide for activists online. It has «tips and tools for reducing surveillance and monitoring, protecting privacy, and dealing with censorship.»

Even if you’re not an activist, the guide has lots of invaluable online security advice about using HTTPS with email and social networking sites, making smarter passwords, and safely and securely using proxies and anonymizing tools.

The guide is available in English and Arabic, but Brett Solomon, the executive director of Access Now, tells me they’ve had offers to translate it into 10 languages since they launched — «everywhere from Tibetan to Russian to Serbian.»

http://www.rferl.org/content/how_to_stay_safe_online/3544056.html