On World Press Freedom day, ARTICLE 19 and regional partners Adil Soz, MPI and NANSMIT call on governments of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan to stop violating freedom of expression.
“Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan should stop using repressive lawsuit politically motivated court proceedings to suppress freedom of expression” said Thomas Hughes, Executive Director of ARTICLE 19, in a joint statement together with regional partners Adil Soz, MPI and NANSMIT.
In Central Asia, draft laws and new legislation in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan are aimed at further restricting the rights of people to free expression and stifling the media. In Kazakhstan and Tajikistan, politically motivated prosecutions and law suits are being used to silence dissent. The chilling effect this has on the right to freedom of expression is evidenced by the increasing environment of self-censorship in these countries.
ARTICLE 19 and regional partners Adil Soz, MPI and NANSMIT are also concerned that courts of Kazakhstan and Tajikistan are issuing overtly unjust decisions in politically motivated cases that contribute to an increasing environment of self-censorship.
One of the clearest cases of unjust decisions is the verdict recently issued against Olga Tutubalina, the editor of popular a newspaper, Asia Plus, in Tajikistan.
On 25 February 2014,Tutubalina was ordered by the Firdavsi district court in Dushanbe to apologize for the use of a Vladimir Lenin quote referring to the ‘Intelligentsia’ in derogatory terms (the “shit of the nation”), and pay 30,000 Somoni (approx. EUR 4,500) in compensation for moral damages to three people who claimed they were members of the intelligentsia. The decision was upheld by the Cassation Board on 30 April. The civil lawsuit was based on the statement by the plaintiffs that the word ‘shit’ used in the article ‘did not correspond to reality’ and insulted their honor, dignity and business reputation, even though none of them could be recognized in the article. The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, in Article 19, requires that all restrictions of the right to freedom of expression are proportionate to the harm of the reputation of individuals. Imposing sanctions where no individual’s reputation has been targeted or harmed violates international standards on freedom of expression. The fine of EUR 4,500, considering the low salaries of journalists in Tajikistan, is clearly intended to silence one journalist and send a warning to all others. It is entirely unjustified and disproportionate.
“The Central Asian governments should abide by their international obligations to ensure full respect for the right to freedom of expression as required by the international human rights treaties” — added Hughes.