Professional media organizations applied to the President of Tajikistan Emomali Rakhmon to take under personal control the court case of Mahmnadyusuf Ismoilov, a journalist from Sughd province accused of defamation, insult, localism and blackmailing. The Tajik National Association of Independent Mass Media (NANMSIT), the Tajik Media Council and the Media Alliance of Tajikistan express concern over the journalist facing 14 years in prison for his publications where he criticized authorities and revealed cases of corruption.

It is especially confusing that complaints in this case are a group of officials from the administration of Asht district in Sughd province; they say they are offended by Ismoilov who dared to criticize them in his articles published in an independent newspaper Nuri Zindagi. The 51-year-old journalist who also suffers from physical disabilities has been held in custody for 11 months.

The case of the Tajik journalist cause a way of criticism among local and international human rights organizations. Experts say that the arrest and punishment of the journalist are absolutely disproportionate to what he could “allegedly do” performing his professional duties.

The US government has also joined the calls for releasing Ismoilov. A few days ago, in the course of discussion of human rights in Tajikistan at the UN Human Righs Council in Switzerland, a representative of a US delegation, the 2-nd Secretary of the US Mission in the UN John Mariz expressed concern over persecutions of journalists and the freedom of speech in Tajikistan. The official also mentioned the increased level of self-censorship in the Tajik media caused by frequent cases of legal prosecution.

The Tajik independent weekly Asia Plus, referring to the new statement released by public organizations, says that “in the process of persecution of Ismoilov, there was a number of egregious blunders violating the national legislation”. Human rights advocates believe that Emomali Rakhmon, as a guarantor of constitutional rights will take this case under his control and the case will be resolved in a fair manner.

http://rus.ozodi.org/ & http://nansmit.tj/news/?id=2251

ASHGABAT — An RFE/RL correspondent in Turkmenistan has gone on trial over allegations that he urged a relative to attempt suicide, in a case his family says is retaliation for his journalistic activities.

Dovletmyrat Yazkuliyev faces up to five years in jail if convicted.

Yazkuliyev was one of the first journalists in Turkmenistan to cover deadly explosions at a weapons depot in the town of Abadan, near Ashgabat, in July, which official media initially downplayed as a minor incident.

RFE/RL President Steve Korn called the case outrageous, saying, «Authorities made no secret of their displeasure with Yazkuliyev after his independent and unscripted reports on Abadan this summer, and these charges seem deceitful and intended to silence him for good.»

Official reports were soon overshadowed by citizens’ posting of images and videos from near the scene of the massive blast, eventually forcing authorities to acknowledge the incident, although reports continued to suggest they were underreporting casualties.

http://www.rferl.org/content/trial_opens_rferl_turkmen_reporter/24349092.html

Full text of the article is here: http://www.eurasianet.org/node/64261

http://www.eurasianet.org/node/64261

ASHGABAT/PRAGUE — An RFE/RL correspondent in Turkmenistan is to go on trial for allegedly urging a relative to attempt suicide, in a case his family says is retaliation for his journalistic activities, RFE/RL’s Turkmen Service reports.

Dovletmurad Yazguliev faces several years in jail if convicted in a trial due to start on October 4.

Yazguliev was detained in his native Akhal province on September 27 and sent to Yashlyk detention center near the capital, Ashgabat.

Yazguliev was charged with driving one of his family members to attempt suicide. However, his relatives say the authorities have interfered in their family’s private life to intimidate Yazguliev for his journalistic activities.

Yazguliev’s family members told RFE/RL that they have «sufficient documents proving that his case is politically motivated.»

Yazguliev was one of the first journalists in Turkmenistan to cover deadly explosions at a weapons depot near Ashgabat in July which official media initially downplayed as a minor incident.

Yazguliev was later summoned to a police station and warned about possible consequences for his coverage of the blasts.

In a statement, RFE/RL President Steve Korn said, «Authorities made no secret of their displeasure with Yazguliev after his independent and unscripted reports on Abadan in July, and these charges seem deceitful and intended to silence him for good.»

Yazguliev, 43, has been working as an RFE/RL correspondent in Turkmenistan since 2007.

http://www.rferl.org/content/rferl_turkmen_reporter_to_go_on_trial/24347892.html

An important press-freedom case is reaching its conclusion in Tajikistan. Independent journalist Makhmadyusuf Ismoilov has been likened by colleagues to Robin Hood for his efforts to expose governmental corruption. Far from seeing him as a heroic figure, officials contend Ismoilov is a calumniator and want him locked up.

Prosecutors have asked a court in northern Sughd Province to give Ismoilov, a reporter for the independent Nuri Zindagi weekly, a 16-year sentence for insulting officials, defamation, and inciting ethnic tensions. The charges stem from a series of articles he wrote on high-level corruption in the province. Sentencing was scheduled for October 3, but the hearing was unexpectedly postponed. A journalist in Sughd said officials appear concerned by the attention the case has received in recent days.

Ismoilov, 51, has been in custody since November 2010. Watchdogs say his trial is designed to silence a government critic. His articles “were well within the bounds of responsible free expression,” Paris-based Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said in a September 30 statement.

“Everything about this prosecution smacks of political revenge rather than normal judicial proceedings,” a RSF statement continued. “The sentence requested is out of all proportion to the charges against Ismoilov. … Although this journalist has been in provisional detention for more than 10 months, the investigators have still been unable to produce any convincing evidence for the charges against him.”

The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), meanwhile, called the charges against Ismoilov preposterous. «The Tajik authorities are using the threat of prison to intimidate journalists and shield officials from public scrutiny,» CPJ said in a statement.

Media rights watchdogs have used the criminal case of a BBC journalist to help draw outside attention to Ismoilov’s case. Urinboy Usmonov of the BBC’s Uzbek-language service was arrested this summer and held for a month in Tajikistan for allegedly belonging to a banned Islamic radical group, Hizb-ut-Tahrir.
CPJ asserted the charge was “trumped-up,” and his arrest prompted a diplomatic outcry. In response, officials reduced the charges, and the journalist was released on bail. He still faces five years for reportedly having contact with Hizb-ut-Tahrir members. Security officials say Usmonov should have volunteered information he learned during his reporting. His lawyers say journalists are legally protected from revealing their sources.

Defamation and other criminal charges that effectively silence critical media are common in Tajikistan. In addition to facing the possibility of prison, journalists often have to contend with financially ruinous lawsuits and/or physical violence.

In September, Khurshed Atovullo, chief editor of the Farazh weekly, told EurasiaNet.org that a local official was demanding 500,000 somoni ($103,000) for “defamation” after he published an article criticizing the official’s Mercedes. In 2010, his paper was not allowed to use its regular print house in Dushanbe for several weeks after critically reporting on the government’s operations to rout suspected Islamist militants in the Rasht Valley. And on August 31, unidentified men assaulted Atovullo in Dushanbe. Though there is no proof that attack was related to his professional activities, his friends believe the episode was a warning. Atovullo almost died after an attack by unknown assailants in 1995.

In another case, in January a senior Interior Ministry’s official filed a lawsuit against the Asia-Plus weekly magazine, demanding 1 million somoni ($210,000) in moral compensation for “defaming a public official, his dignity and business reputation.” The suit arose out of an article published by the magazine that examined police torture in Sughd. The case is still pending.

Nargiz Zokirova, director of the Bureau of Human Rights and Rule of Law, a non-profit organization based in Dushanbe, said official harassment often succeeds in silencing Tajik journalists.

“One of the most popular periodicals in the country describes a serious problem, after which it is publically accused of cooperating with terrorists,” Zokirova said, referring to a threat the defense minister made last year when journalists criticized government’s operations in Rasht. “It serves as an example not to be followed by other journalists, a lesson to be learned. But in reality, it is an act of intimidation.”

Although Tajikistan has ratified multiple international treaties on human rights, defamation and the “insult” of government officials still remain criminal offenses. Freedom House ranks Tajikistan’s media environment as “not free.”

Observers say the two recent criminal cases expose a double standard. After extensive diplomatic pressure, Usmonov received a rare reduction in charges. Some experts say Usmonov’s association with the BBC was critical in generating international pressure on the government over the case. Independent journalists like Ismoilov, observers add, are far less likely to receive diplomatic assistance, which is effective with Tajikistan’s image-conscious authorities.

“Usmonov has been fortunate in that he can command global attention to his case due to his affiliation with a powerful international network; Ismoilov, obviously, cannot do the same,” wrote blogger “Alpharabius” on neweurasia.net on October 1. “Ismoilov is a soft target, and I suspect the steep sentence he’s facing is intended as either a test of international interest in local reporting and/or as a message to other ‘obscure’ journalists in Tajikistan.”

Editor’s note:
Konstantin Parshin is a freelance writer based in Tajikistan

Konstantin Parshin, EurasiaNet.org

Источник: http://www.eurasianet.org/node/64261

ALMATY — Jailed Kazakh journalist Ramazan Esergepov says he will start human rights defense activities after his scheduled release in three months, RFE/RL’s Kazakh Service reports.

Esergepov returned to a penitentiary in the southern Kazakh city of Taraz on September 26 as his one-week release to see his ailing mother in Almaty ended.

Esergepov told RFE/RL before departing for Taraz that since he has been officially banned by the court from working as a journalist he will be involved in human rights activities after his release in January.

He added that he does not plan to ask for clemency as he does not consider himself guilty of any crime.

Esergepov, the founder and chief editor of the Almaty-based newspaper «Alma-Ata Info,» was sentenced in August 2009 to three years in prison for publishing state secrets in an article published in his newspaper in 2008.

Esergepov and rights organizations protested the verdict, saying the case was politically motivated. «Alma-Ata Info» was closed down after his arrest.

Esergepov was given one week, from September 19-26, to see his mother, who suffered a stroke earlier this month.

He told RFE/RL that he plans to defend human rights in general — especially in the Kazakh penitentiary system — and will fight corruption after his release.

«You do not have any idea what is happening in the jails and detention centers. Corruption has penetrated all spheres of everyday life in Kazakhstan and we have to do something about it,» he said.

Esergepov added that he will also do everything to prove his innocence in order to clear his name.

Esergepov is one of the recipients, announced in June, of a Hellman-Hammett Grant for 2011. The grant is administered by Human Rights Watch and awarded to writers and journalists who have been subject to political persecution and are in financial need.

Esergepov is the third Kazakh to receive a Hellman-Hammett Grant.

http://www.rferl.org/content/kazakhstan_journalist_esergepov/24341383.html