Police in Moscow have arrested five people who were part of a protest against recent deportations of Tajik migrant laborers from Russia.

The five were detained at the «I am Tajik — Deport Me!» rally on November 24 outside the Federal Migration Service in Moscow.

Some of the protesters were washing windows at the migration service building and sweeping the sidewalks, work often performed by migrant laborers in Russia.

Russian news agency Interfax cited an unnamed police official as saying the five people, none of whom were ethnic Tajiks, were members of an «anarchist movement.»

Russia started deporting Tajik migrant laborers earlier this month, which many have suggested was in retaliation for Tajik authorities putting a Russian pilot on trial.

The Russian pilot was convicted but quickly received an amnesty.

http://www.rferl.org/content/five_arrested_for_protesting_tajik_deportations_from_russia/24403673.ht

Deadline:31/01/12
Journalists and photographers can enter a contest with a US$5,000 prize.

The Sidney Hillman Foundation seeks entries for its Hillman Prizes honoring investigative journalism and commentary that serves the common good.

Journalists worldwide can apply but the work must have been published in the United States.

This year’s categories include online, multimedia, magazine, broadcast, newspaper, photojournalism, book or opinion.

Along with the cash prize, winners receive a trip to New York City and a certificate designed by New York cartoonist Edward Sorel.

Applicants must submit a cover letter and four copies of the nominated material by January 31.

For more information, click here: http://hillmanfoundation.org/nominations-0

http://hillmanfoundation.org/nominations-0

The Tajik National Association of Independent Mass Media (NANSMIT), the Union of Journalists of Tajikistan (UJT) and the Tajik Media Alliance (TMA) call on the media to restrain from using aggressive expressions and statements and stick to the rules of political correctness covering the issues of labor migration and inter-ethnic relations.

This issue is very relevant, especially in the light of ongoing development related to the recent case of two Russian ethnic pilots sentenced by the Tajik court to lengthy prison terms. This issue has gained a political character; Tajik labor migrants have become hostages of the situation.

The situation has gone out of the “legal field”; it is aggravated by the involvement of the media and wide discussions in social networks. In these discussions, one can clearly see rude expressions, insult and incitements of extremist character. These circumstances instigate nationalist and xenophobic moods in both Russian and Tajik societies for the benefit of the internal destructive forces, as well as for the external geopolitical players.

We, the heads of the Tajik media organizations, call on all Russian and Tajik mass media to observe professional standards and provide objective and balanced information on the ongoing developments, restraining from emotions.

Nuriddin Karshiboev, Chairman of NANSMIT

Khurshed Niyozov, Secretary General of TMA

www.nansmit.tj

Graduate journalism students can apply for two-week summer fellowships in New York, Germany and Poland.

The Fellowships at Auschwitz for the Study of Professional Ethics (FASPE) will choose 10-15 students to examine the role journalists played in Nazi Germany and the Holocaust.

Fellows will hear from historical sources and survival testimonies, visit German and Polish newsrooms and participate in on-site workshops in Berlin and Auschwitz.

The program will address challenges of human rights reporting, censorship, propaganda, writing historical narratives and new media in present-day journalism.

Applicants must submit a resume, transcript, essay and letters of recommendation by January 6.

For more information, click here: http://www.mjhnyc.org/faspe/pr_journalism.html

http://ijnet.org/opportunities/fellowships-journalism-graduate-students-open-worldwide

QURGHON-TEPPA, Tajikistan — Authorities in the southern Tajik town of Qurghon-Teppa have closed down a madrasah prosecutors linked to «Islamization» — and fined five mosques for sanitary reasons, RFE/RL’s Tajik Service reports.
According to the city prosecutor, the Islamic school, which taught some 90 local children, lacked registration.

However, in a meeting with a group of intellectuals, Jumanazar Saidaliev expressed concerns over Islam’s increasing popularity among young people, saying it would pave the way for the «Islamization» of society.

«Under the current circumstances in Tajikistan, any attempt at the Islamization of society would lead to the creation of political Islam in the country, which is not a good prospect,» the prosecutor said.

«It would destabilize the political situation, and break the balance and harmony between secular people and moderate, pious Muslims,» Saidaliev warned.

In a separate development in Qurghon-Teppa, five mosques — including one housing the madrasah — were ordered to pay fines for what city authorities called «poor sanitary conditions.»

If the mosques fail to provide the proper sanitary facilities needed for the ritual washing performed before prayers, their activities will be suspended, the office of Qurghon-Teppa’s city mayor told RFE/RL.

Earlier this year, the city authorities destroyed a downtown mosque for its lack of official registration.

Some local residents accuse the authorities of using any pretext to close down prayer houses.

The office of the mayor, however, rejected the criticism, saying, «there are 12 officially registered mosques and three other non-Islamic prayer houses in the city that function freely, without any problem.»

http://www.rferl.org/content/tajiks_close_madrasah_express_concern_at_islamization/24395446.html

An international multimedia news agency will train new journalists with a potential career to follow.

Thomson Reuters Journalism Trainee program is seeking candidates to train for nine months in its London, New York or Singapore offices.

After several weeks of intensive classroom training, the trainees will be placed in professional newsrooms reporting news stories up to Reuters standards. Journalists who meet the performance standards will move to staff positions in one of 200 newsrooms worldwide.

Early-career journalists and financial professionals or final year students/recent graduates of journalism, economics, business or languages are eligible to apply. Applicants must have editorial experience and proven interest in financial news. Fluency in more than one language is a plus.

The deadline to apply is December 31.

For more information, click here: http://careers.thomsonreuters.com/Students/Bachelors-Masters/Europe/Reuters-Journalism-Trainee/

http://ijnet.org/opportunities/reuters-journalism-training-program-seeking-applicants-worldwide

The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Dunja Mijatović, during her official three-day visit to Tajikistan starting today offered to the country’s authorities assistance and expertise of her Office to promote media pluralism and reform legislation.

During her visit Mijatović met with Foreign Minister Hamrokhon Zarifi, Interior Minister Abdurahim Kahorov, members of the Parliament Olim Salimzoda and Akramsho Felaliev, the Head of the Committee on Television and Radio under the Government of Tajikistan Asadullo Rahmonov, the Head of Tajik Communication Service Beg Zuhurov, media non-governmental organizations and journalists.

“I appreciate the fact that Tajikistan’s doors are open for me and my Office’s expertise and assistance,” said Mijatović, who was invited by Tajikistan Foreign Minister. “My visit is very timely: legal reforms in the media sphere are planned and the preparations to switch to digital broadcasting are underway. I had constructive and fruitful discussions with the authorities and trust that steps to promote media pluralism in broadcasting and print media will be taken.”

Mijatović offered her Office’s assistance to reform the Mass Media Law and the Law on Broadcasting in Tajikistan to reflect the OSCE commitments as well as the upcoming digitalization, which she called “a good opportunity to develop Tajikistan’s broadcast sector”.

“Both state and privately-owned media should benefit from the upcoming digital switchover,” Mijatović added. “For the sake of pluralism, the state should gradually separate from its monopoly in the nationwide broadcasting TV. The time has come for a nationwide private broadcaster, and for more private regional and local print media.”

Referring to the recent civil law suits against print media filed by high-level governmental officials, the Representative called on the authorities to decriminalize defamation and make the civil court system fair for media defendants. “High demands in compensation in civil cases have nearly the same chilling effect on free media as criminal convictions,” Mijatović stressed.

“It is crucial for the productive public discourse, that public officials have a higher degree of tolerance and do not view criticism in the media as attacks against their personal rights.” She added that the Media Council, established in Tajikistan two years ago with assistance from the OSCE, could serve as the platform to adjudicate conflicts on the journalistic materials.

Mijatović said she was looking forward to conducting several joint activities agreed with the Tajik authorities, including workshops on interaction between media and governmental spokespersons, as well as law enforcement professionals, which would be implemented together with the OSCE Office in Dushanbe. She also expressed her appreciation to the authorities for their readiness to have the upcoming Central Asia Media Conference in Dushanbe on 29 and 30 November this year.

Ambassador Vikki, the Head of the OSCE Office in Tajikistan took part in the meetings.

The Representative also had a separate meeting with BBC reporter Urunboi Usmanov and Nuri Zindagi correspondent Mahmadyusuf Ismoilov, both of whom were recently released from jail, as well as with Hikmatullo Saifullozoda, a newspaper editor-in-chief who had been attacked earlier this year.

OSCE

Journalists interested in writing long-form stories about religion can apply for a two-year grant of up to US$50,000.

The Social Science Research Council invites proposals on the study of prayer and the significance of prayerful practices in contemporary culture and society.

Print journalists must produce three to five 5000-word articles for publication or a book-length manuscript. Broadcast journalists must produce projects of similar scope.

Applicants must first submit a short bio, work sample and three-page letter of intent describing the proposed project by December 1. Journalists with the most promising projects will be contacted to submit a complete project proposal.

For more information, click here: http://www.ssrc.org/programs/new-directions-in-the-study-of-prayer/

http://ijnet.org/opportunities/religion-research-grants-journalists-open-worldwide

An RFE/RL reporter in Turkmenistan who was amnestied last month from a five-year jail term says international support helped free him, RFE/RL’s Turkmen Service reports.

Dovletmyrat Yazkuliyev told RFE/RL in an interview that the «international pressure, especially by U.S. [senators] and efforts by the U.S. State Department, played a big role in my release. I am very thankful to them.»

He said he thinks another reason he was freed from prison is because «there were some high-level government and security officials [in Turkmenistan] who knew that I was being kept in prison on fake charges and they understood it would damage the image of the country» to keep him jailed.

Yazkuliyev was sentenced to five years in prison in early October after being found guilty of «encouraging a relative’s suicide attempt.» Family members said they had been forced by police to sign statements against him, and that their efforts to retract those statements were ignored in the trial that ensued.

He was officially released on October 26 under what officials said was a general presidential amnesty to commemorate the 20th anniversary of Turkmenistan’s independence.

Yazkuliyev’s family and supporters said the case against him was retaliation for Yazkuliyev’s outspoken investigative reporting, including coverage of deadly explosions at a weapons depot near Ashgabat in July, which were downplayed by the official Turkmen media.

Yazkuliyev’s trial and sentence drew widespread condemnation from media-rights groups, including Paris-based Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and the U.S.-based Committee to Protect Journalists, and prompted four senior U.S.senators to express their concern in a letter to the Turkmen ambassador in Washington.

«I was not physically abused while I was in prison, but I lost my health from the strong psychological pressure that I faced there,» he told RFE/RL. «Now I cannot sleep more than three to four hours a day.»

Yazkuliyev added that the head of the Kaka district police department, district prosecutor Ilmurad Babaev, and others who interrogated him «did not talk about the charges and official accusations they made [against me], but they were very interested in my work with RFE/RL.»

Yazkuliyev has been threatened several times by Turkmen officials in recent years because of his work as a journalist.

RFE/RL President Steve Korn after Yazkuliyev’s release called him «the victim of policies in Turkmenistan that are aggressively hostile to media freedom» and said «the international community must continue to condemn efforts to silence free speech.»

In 2006, RFE/RL Turkmen correspondent Ogulsapar Muradova died in prison shortly after her arrest, prompting international demands for an investigation that never took place. Family members who saw her body before burial said it bore signs of torture and abuse.

http://rus.ozodi.org/

A prominent Uzbek newspaper has announced that it has suspended publication, RFE/RL’s Uzbek Service reports.

Bakhodyr Yuldashev, the chief editor of the Russian-language «Zerkalo XXI» («Mirror XXI»), told RFE/RL that the paper has stopped publishing due to financial difficulties.

«We have suspended publishing the newspaper,» he said from Tashkent on November 4. «We haven’t given up the license… [and] hopefully we will come back early next year [and resume publishing] once we are on our feet again.»

The newspaper, which was founded in 1990, was one of a few media outlets in Uzbekistan that covered important social and economic issues in the country.

«Any of our readers can confirm that we have had tons of critical reports [in our newspaper],» Yuldashev said. «And no one likes criticism, you know? As Uzbeks say, ‘even your father doesn’t like to hear criticism.'»

Yuldashev added that two other newspapers that he runs, «Novosti Uzbekistana» («News Of Uzbekistan») and «Wedding-Toyona» («Wedding-Dowry»), continue to operate.

Another employee at «Zerkalo XXI,» who spoke to RFE/RL on condition of anonymity, said that the newspaper has had problems with the state licensing committee for publishing several advertisements that the committee said were «illegal.» He added that he thinks this may be the reason for the publication’s closure.

But Yuldashev told RFE/RL that «Zerkalo XXI» has not been fined or been told by officials that there were any problems with the newspaper’s content.

All media outlets in Uzbekistan are either fully owned and controlled by the government or carefully monitored and censored by it.

Uzbek authorities have shut down all relatively independent newspapers such as «Odamlar Orasida» («Among People»), «Munosabat» («Reaction»), «Mohiyat» («Essence»), and many others that cited financial difficulties in closing or were shut down after being charged with violating procedures for publishing ads.

«Zerkalo XXI» is owned by the Media Business company.

http://www.rferl.org/content/uzbek_newspaper_stops_publishing/24384444.html