Heads of some Tajik ministries and government institutions gave orders to their press services not to come in contact with journalists and not to provide them with any information without preliminary approval from chief executives. Journalists are instructed to submit their questions in written form well in advance.

On 20 August, Zulfikori Ismoliyon, correspondent of Radio Liberty approached the press secretary of the Tajik Ministry of Economic Development and Trade to find out whether such and order restricting access to information has ever been issued. Ismoliyon was advised to apply to the head of the Ministry’s Public Relations Unit. However, the head of that unit ignored the request of the journalist and gave no any answer at all.

It should be noted that a Memorandum on Cooperation between the State Structures and the Media was signed on 9 August in Dushanbe. In reality, the public officials have been doing their best to worsen access to information.

NANSMIT Monitoring Service