On 13 November, Tolib Kholov, official from the State TV and Radio Committee informed that the activities of cable TV companies in Dushanbe are terminated because of the absence of licenses.

Kholov said that the idea belongs to the Committee on National Security. The Committee refers to the fact that these companies do not have broadcasting licenses. Answering the question “why these companies could not obtain the license?”, Kholov said that they failed to collect necessary documents. He added that in some of the documents the companies should indicate sources of funding and agreements with broadcasting companies whose programs they rebroadcast.

Manager of TV Ison Askar Niyazov who has been providing cable TV services since 2005, said that his company has been waiting for response from the licensing committee for two years. He also stressed that the authorities provided them with no official letter explaining why they cannot receive a blank licensing form. Niyazov says that the cable TV services are in demand, especially among lower income citizens who cannot afford paying $200 for a satellite dish. Cable TV services provide more than 55 TV channels, for which subscribers pay monthly $2,30.

Tolib Kholov said that in the nearest future activities of similar companies will be terminated in other regions of Tajikistan. There are nine companies providing cable TV services.

http://www.regnum.ru/

Press Now Netherlands created an offshore radio station for Uzbekistan. This radio station will broadcast one hour a day, once a week, with a block of news, reports and entertaining shows oriented to Uzbekistan. Broadcasting will be performed in Uzbek language.
Currently, Press Now is looking for a candidate for the position of Project Coordinator / Editor / Director. Interested individuals can receive detailed information on the web page: http://www.pressnow.nl/asp/vacancies.asp

Source: NANSMIT Monitoring Service

Journalists from Central Asia came to Brussels to learn about activities and programs of NATO.

One of the segments of the NATO program “Partnership for Peace” is outreach activities among the media. “Partnership for Peace” has been under implementation since 2002. The goal of this program is to provide media professionals with reliable information about NATO as a political and military organization, and to deflate the cold war stereotypes.

Media professionals have also learned about the North Atlantic Block’s activities in Afghanistan. The ongoing program in this country is the first operation conducted by NATO away from Europe. About 40 thousand servicemen from 26 member countries are taking part on the program.

NATO is planning specific programs on disaster preparedness and response, projects on energy and cyber security, which will be discussed next year in Bucharest, Romania.

Journalists were also told about the partnerships “Russia-NATO” and “The Ukrarine-NATO”.

During the study tour, journalists visited the headquarters and the military command premises of NATO.

Tajikistan was represented by TV Safina and Asia Plus news agency.

http://www.asiaplus.tj/

National Endowment for Democracy expressed indignation regarding the murder of our close friend, Alisher Saipov, editor of the Uzbek-language newspaper Siyosat. The journalist was assassinated on 24 October, after a long discrediting campaign against him. This defamation is still continuing. We express our deepest condolences to Alisher’s family and colleagues.

Alisher Saipov was one of the best journalists in Central Asia. Being the editor of newspaper Siyosat, which NED supported with pride, he always spoke freely appealing to the audience at large, to those who had no access to independent media. Alisher wrote about violations of human rights, revealing manipulations of the authorities during the presidential elections, and openly telling truly stories about the Uzbek special services clandestinely acting in Kyrgyzstan. Alisher’s friends and colleagues felt anxious about his safety. This fear was caused by constant attacks against the journalist on Uzbek web sites. We also know that his office was under surveillance.

Shortly after the murder, on 30-th October, the Kyrgyz Interior Ministry issued a press release accusing Saipov of affiliation with Islamic extremist organizations and defaming his professional reputation. This is nothing but a clumsy attempt to take people’s attention off the problems described by Alisher in his publications, including threats from those who disliked his articles. Alisher’s professionalism was quite evident. He was a clever, smart and talented young man.

We can say the same about other journalists working for Siyosat. After the murder of Saipov, all the newspaper computers, documents and property had been arrested by the police. The law enforcement officers keep interrogating the newspaper staff.

Kyrgyzstan desires to become an island of liberty in Central Asia. If the government really wishes to create a positive image of the country, it should stop the defaming campaign against Saipov, and adequately protect all independent Kyrgyz journalists. The authorities should conduct an impartial investigation of the murder of Alisher Saipov.

On 5-6 November, the Russian capital will be hosting the International Grand Prix Finale of the mountainous races tournament. Davlatali Shamsov, a TV journalist from Kulyab will take part in the competition.

The runner himself told NANSMIT’s correspondent that the Mayor of Kulyab Khamid Abdulloyev helped arrange Shamsov’s trip and participation in the prestigious competition in Moscow.

Davlatali Shamsov is not and amateur in sports. Earlier, in September he took part in a 10-kilometer marathon at the 31-st International Track-and-Field Athletics Championship in the city of Korolyov, Russia. He was the 33-rd who came to the finish ribbon among 3,600 participants of the marathon. The Mayor’s office covered Tajik sportsman’s travel expenses.

http://www.asiaplus.tj/

The National Endowment for Democracy (NED) was shocked and outraged to hear the news that our good friend Alisher Saipov, editor of the Uzbek newspaper Siyosat, was murdered on October 24 following a smear campaign directed against him that has continued even after his death. We send our condolences to the family and colleagues of this beloved young man.

Alisher Saipov established himself as one of the best reporters in Central Asia. As founder and editor of the newspaper Siyosat, which NED was proud to support, he was able to reach a broad readership that has little access to independent reporting on topics that include human rights abuses in Uzbekistan, the manipulation of the upcoming presidential election there, and the criminal activities of Uzbek security services operating across the border in Kyrgyzstan. Because of his reporting of such abuses, many friends and colleagues were concerned about his safety during the period leading up to Alisher’s murder, with attacks against him on Uzbek web pages and surveillance of his office.

After his death, an October 30 press release of the Interior Ministry of Kyrgyzstan, tried to blacken Alisher’s reputation by linking his name to Islamic extremism, a crude attempt to divert attention from the real issue, which is the threat he was under from those who objected to his reporting. In fact, Alisher Saipov’s record of professionalism and courage speaks for itself. He was a bright and brave young man, who exemplified hope for the future and was a source of pride and hope for the Uzbek and Kyrgyz people.

The same is true of the other journalists associated with Siyosat, whose safety may also be at risk. Since the murder, the computers, documentation, and other property of the Siyosat newspaper have been seized by the police. The staff of the newspaper has been subjected to daily rounds of questioning by police and security officials. Other journalists in Osh, Kyrgyzstan, who have attempted to report about this case have also been denounced and harassed by the police.

Kyrgyzstan seeks to be seen as an island of freedom in Central Asia. If the government wishes to advance that image, it must distance itself from this repugnant smear campaign against Alisher, cease harassing the staff of Siyosat, and provide them and other independent journalists in Kyrgyzstan with the protection they need to continue their work. Not least, the authorities need to carry out a serious and impartial investigation of the murder of Alisher Saipov.

The Ninth Central Asian Conference «Development and self-regulation among the media in Central Asia: on the way to independent and accountable media» will be held on 1-2 November in Dushanbe.

According to the OSCE Press Center i Dushnabe, a number of issues related to advantages of self-regulation in the media will be discussed at the forthcoming conference. In particular, participants will be discussing the issues of balance between the legal personal responsibility of the media, and the development of mechanisms for self-regulation among the media in Central Asian countries.

Special attention will be paid ti the issues of self-regulation along with the improvement of professional quality of the media, and the freedom of speech.

OSCE informs that a number of media organizations and human rights watchdogs from Central Asia, Ukraine and Russia will present their reports describing the experience of self-regulation and ethical standards in their countries.

Chairman of the Tajik National Association of Independent Media (NANSMIT) Nuriddin Karshibayev is going to present a report on the situation in the sphere of media in Tajikistan and about the perspectives of self-regulation in the country.

http://www.asiaplus.tj/

A two-week seminar on multimedia journalism completed in Dushanbe on 26 October.

Sukhrobi Ziyo, representative of BBC in Tajikistan told Khovar news agency that 18 journalists from various regions of Tajikistan have received their certificates of completion of multimedia journalism courses.

During two weeks journalists attended lectures of former BBC employees who now work as trainers for a British media organization «Jadidmedia». The Tajik journalists have learned the basics of photo journalism; they practiced to work with audio and video files and learned how to launch them in the internet. By the end of the workshop, every participant had to prepare a three-four-minute clip covering a social topic. All works will be launched on the web site www.jadidonline.com.

«Not only experienced journalists, web designers, photo correspondents and cameramen attended the workshop, — says Ziyo. — It was also attended by university students of journalism faculties and free-lancers who wish to work in the sphere of multimedia».

The workshop was organized by British Broadcasting Corporation office in Tajikistan, a non-governmental organization «Jadid-media» and the International Fund named after Muhiddin Olimpour.

http://www.khovar.tj/

National Association of Independent Media and the information agency «Inter Press Service» have jointly issued the fifteenth monthly bulletin «Media and Law».

The following link gives you detailed information on the bulletin: http://www.nansmit.tj/publish/?id=122

Journalists of Khatlon province attended a two-day workshop «Role of the media in prevention and control of tuberculosis». This is a countrywide initiative supported financially by USAID, and technically by NGO «Hope».

On 18-19 October, the city of Kulyab in Khatlon province hosted a workshop «Role of the media in prevention and control of tuberculosis». This is a countrywide initiative supported financially by USAID, and technically by NGO «Hope».

Participants of the workshop discussed the issues of sensitivity in covering the topics of dangerous diseases, which often mislead the public and cause panic.

In the course of discussions, most of the participants expressed concerns about censorship and lack of access to information, which is frequently justified by public officials referring to «internal ministerial instructions» and «resolutions from above» that do not have any legal ground.

NANSMIT monitoring service