DUSHANBE – Tajikistan’s Supreme Court has banned an Islamist organization, Jamaat Ansarullah, ruling that it is an extremist group.

The ruling came after the organization last year issued several videos calling on Tajik citizens to embrace jihad and urging citizens to take action to support Islamic rule.

A commander of an illegal armed group killed recently by Tajik security forces has been described by authorities as an activist of the organization.

Tajik authorities have banned more than 10 Islamic groups and organizations since 2000, including Al-Qaida, the Taliban, the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, Jamaat Tablig and Hizb-ut Tahrir.

http://www.rferl.org/content/tajikistan_islamic_groups_banned/24568348.html

U.S. Representative Howard Berman has expressed concern over increasing reports of intimidation and violence toward journalists in Azerbaijan.

In a letter to Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev on World Press Freedom Day, the congressman said recent «incidents have highlighted long-held concerns regarding the ability to express one’s thoughts and opinions freely» in Azerbaijan.

Berman (Democrat-California) said five journalists were beaten up by security personnel of a state oil company as they were reporting on the demolition of houses that the company said were illegally built on its land.

Berman also noted that RFE/RL Azerbaijani Service correspondent Khadija Ismayilova was the focus of a campaign of intimidation and coercion due to her investigative journalism.

Berman urged Baku to prosecute those responsible for the cases, and to protect journalists against future threats.

http://www.rferl.org/content/us_congressman_alarmed_at_azerbaijan_press_situation/24569158.html

Europe’s largest association of national broadcasters says a top Azerbaijani official has pledged that his government will probe accusations of abuses against journalists.

Ali Hasanov, who heads President Ilham Aliyev’s political department, told the European Broadcast Union (EBU) during a daylong closed meeting on May 2 in Geneva, that the authorities would fully investigate «alleged cases of jailed and mistreated journalists.»

A statement from EBU after the meeting said Hasanov also agreed for the government to change legislation «to reduce defamation to a civil, and not a criminal, offense.»

Hasanov was speaking as the country prepares to host the Eurovision Song Contest.

Azerbaijan is to host the glitzy televised competition on May 22, 24, and 26.

With reporting by AFP

http://www.rferl.org/content/azerbaijan_official_pledges_to_investigate_abuses_against_journalists/2

A leading journalism watchdog group has listed authorities in Uzbekistan, Belarus, and Iran as among the world’s leading media censors.

In a new report released on the eve of World Press Freedom Day, the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists said all three countries are guilty of seeking to cut off access to information by muzzling journalists and blocking websites.

Robert Mahoney, CPJ’s deputy director, said authorities in Iran, unnerved by several years of rising public unrest, have imposed one of the world’s harshest Internet censorship regimes and jailed dozens of journalists.

«Iran uses imprisonment of journalists to quash critical news coverage,» Mahoney said. «Reformist publications are often banned and their staff sent to prison. Satellite broadcasts and millions of websites are blocked. Sophisticated techniques are used to detect interference with anticensorship software.»

Iran was not among the worst media censors when the CPJ last published its list in 2006 but has since risen to become the world’s fourth-worst censor, behind only Eritrea, North Korea, and Syria.

In Uzbekistan, where the regime of longtime leader Islam Karimov has maintained a stranglehold on the press, the CPJ says all independent media outlets have been effectively eliminated.

Mahoney also notes that five reporters are currently serving prolonged prison terms in the country, which ranks sixth on the CPJ list.

These include Muhammad Bekjannov and Yusuf Ruzimuradov of the «Erk» opposition newspaper, who were imprisoned in 1999 and have now been jailed longer than any other reporters worldwide.

«No independent media outlets are based in Uzbekistan,» Mahoney says. «Access to some outside websites and even key words are blocked. Five reporters are serving extended prison terms. Foreign journalists are excluded.»

Delivering The Death Blow

CPJ’s censorship list ranks countries according to website access, journalists’ freedom of movement, and the presence of privately owned media.

In Belarus — 10th place on the CPJ list — the controversial 2010 reelection of authoritarian leader Alyaksandr Lukashenka was seen as delivering the death blow to what remained of the country’s free press.

Mahoney says even before the elections and the massive public protests that followed, Lukashenka’s regime had routinely subjected journalists to criminal prosecution and failed to investigate the suspicious deaths of at least three journalists.

These include Aleh Byabenin, the founder of the outspoken Charter 97 website, who was found hanged at his family’s dacha in 2010.

«The government of Belarus has raided newsrooms, confiscated equipment, imprisoned journalists, and banned reporters from traveling,» Mahoney says. «The remnants of its independent press operate underground. Independent websites are blocked and access to the Internet requires identification.»

Other countries on the CPJ’s top 10 censorship list include Equatorial Guinea, Myanmar, Saudi Arabia, and Cuba. Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan, and China were listed among the runners-up.

The CPJ report comes one day after a second watchdog group, Freedom House, gave a grim assessment of the state of the media worldwide, saying the percentage of people with access to a free press had fallen to its lowest level in nearly 20 years.

In a separate statement, the Iraq-based Journalism Freedoms Observatory said pressure on Iraqi journalists was on the rise, with a marked increase in the number of arbitrary arrests and violence targeting reporters.

With reporting by AP, AFP, and dpa

http://www.rferl.org/content/uzbekistan_iran_belarus_media_censors/24567209.html

ORAL, Kazakhstan – A Kazakh journalist who sustained serious injuries in a recent assault went on trial in absentia on April 27 in a libel case.

Lukpan Akhmedyarov, a correspondent for the «Uralskaya nedelya» weekly in the western city of Oral, was stabbed and shot with a pneumatic pistol on April 19.

He received a subpoena to attend the trial from hospital but was unable to do so due to his health condition.

A top official in the West Kazakhstan Oblast, Tilekqabyl Imashev, has filed a lawsuit against Akhmedyarov. Imashev is demanding financial compensation from the journalist, alleging he “hurt his dignity and honor” in one of his articles.

Akhmedyarov says both the lawsuit and the attack against him are politically motivated.

http://www.rferl.org/content/kazakhstan_akhmedyarov/24562132.html

DUSHANBE — A prominent scholar in Tajikistan is being criticized after calling for Muslim prayers in the country to be performed in the Tajik language rather than Arabic.

Zafar Mirzoyon, who is known for his articles on Tajik history and national-identity issues, made the remark last week during a meeting with students at Tajik National University in Dushanbe.

Mirzoyon said reading Koranic verses in a language that a person understands brings them «closer to God.»

Critics say the suggestion defies the Islamic teaching that the Koran should not be translated from Arabic.

Islamic experts in Tajikistan have said Mirzoyon’s suggestion is an «insult» to Islam.

But the country’s Islamic leaders, including the Council of Ulema, have not publicly commented on Mirzoyon’s suggestion or the public debate it has sparked.

http://www.rferl.org/content/tajik_scholar_muslim_prayers_language/24562732.html

Professional, amateur and student photographers worldwide can enter a contest with a US$10,000 grand prize.

The International Photography Awards seek entries for its annual competition featuring eight professional categories — advertising, architecture, deeper perspective, editorial, photography book, fine art, nature and people.

The winner of each category will compete for International Photographer of the Year and the grand cash prize. Student and amateur winners in non-professional categories will compete for the title of the Discovery of the Year, a Lucie Statue and a US$5,000 cash prize.

A selection of 40-50 images of the winning entries will be featured in an exhibition in New York City. The best in show how will then travel to various countries to be included in photo festivals, galleries and other photography-related events.

Entry fees range from US$10-60 with a 10% discount for entries submitted by April 30. The regular deadline is May 31.

For more information, click here: http://www.photoawards.com/en/Pages/Enter/submit.php

http://www.photoawards.com/en/Pages/Enter/submit.php

Journalists interested in taking on an in-depth research project can apply for a fully funded fellowship in Europe.

The European Institutes for Advanced Study Fellowship Program offers 10-month residencies in one of the following cities — Berlin, Bologna, Brussels, Bucharest, Budapest, Cambridge, Helsinki, Jerusalem, Lyon, Nantes, Paris, Uppsala, Vienna or Wassenaar.

The program offers two types of fellowships. Junior fellowships are offered to researchers with a PhD and 2-9 years of subsequent research experience. Senior fellows must have a PhD and at least 10 years of research experience.

Junior fellows receive a EU?26,000 (about US$34,002) living stipend and senior fellows receive EU?38,000 (about US$49,695). All fellows receive basic social security coverage, accommodation or support for relocation, a research budget and travel expenses (one round trip).

Applicants cannot apply to an institute located in their country of nationality or residence. Submit an application form, a list of previous publications, 2-5 research samples, a detailed research proposal and two recommendation letters by June 7.

For more information, click here: http://www.2013-2014.eurias-fp.eu/home

http://www.2013-2014.eurias-fp.eu/home

Journalists of any nationality can submit works published in Spanish to a contest with a US$7,900 prize.

Fundación Miguel Gil Moreno and Random House Mondadori present the Miguel Gil Moreno Award for Journalism.

Print, radio, broadcast or online journalists whose work have been published in Spanish, either as the original language or translated, can participate.

The winner will receive EU?6,000 (about US$7,900).

Articles must have been published in 2011. The deadline is April 30, 2012.

For more information, in Spanish, click here: http://www.apmadrid.es/images/stories/Bases%20XI%20PremioMiguelGil.pdf

http://www.apmadrid.es/images/stories/Bases%20XI%20PremioMiguelGil.pdf

ORAL, Kazakhstan — A Kazakh journalist who sustained serious injuries in an assault says the attack must have been ordered by individuals «who did not like my articles.»

Lukpan Akhmedyarov, a correspondent for the «Uralskaya nedelya» weekly in the western city of Oral, told journalists at his hospital bed on April 24 that the attackers apparently knew the exact time on the evening of April 20 when he usually left his apartment to park his car for the night.

He therefore believes the attack was premeditated and well-organized.

International organizations and rights groups have condemned the attack on Akhmedyarov, who was known for his critical reporting on the Kazakh authorities, and called for a thorough investigation.

On April 23, former U.S. Ambassador to Kazakhstan William Courtney called for an international investigation into the brutal beating of Akhmedyarov.

«Without doubt, the attackers acted at the behest of someone in power,» said Courtney, who was ambassador in the early 1990s. «Under these circumstances, only an international investigation will be credible,» he told RFE/RL.

Courtney said it would be «very useful» if the United States pushed for an Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe investigation.

A correspondent for the «Uralskaya nedelya» weekly in the western city of Oral, Akhmedyarov was stabbed and shot by a pneumatic weapon on April 20.

The paper’s editor in chief, Tamara Eslyamova, told RFE/RL on April 23 that Akhmedyarov had been moved from intensive care to a regular hospital room and was now able to talk.

Akhmedyarov’s colleagues say they believe the attack was connected to his professional activities and criticism of the government.

http://www.rferl.org/content/us_envoy_wants_international_probe_into_kazakh_journalist_attack/245580