His Excellency Emomali Rakhmon
President of Tajikistan
Address: Rudaki Ave. 80
Dushanbe, Republic of Tajikistan
Email : mail@president.tj
Paris, Dushanbe, 7 September 2011
Your Excellency, President Emomali Rakhmon,
The international press freedom organization Reporters Without Borders and the National Association of Independent Mass Media in Tajikistan (NANSMIT) would like to share with you their relief at BBC correspondent Urunboy Usmonov’s recent provisional release. We also would like to thank you if it was because of your intervention. We will be following his trial closely.
On the eve of the International Day of Solidarity with Journalists, we want to draw your attention to the case of Makhmadyusuf Ismoilov, a journalist detained in the northern province of Sughd since 23 November 201, whose case has similarities with Mr. Usmonov’s. As guarantor of your country’s Constitution and the international conventions it has ratified, we urge you to do everything in your power to ensure respect for the presumption of innocence and a fair trial for Mr. Ismoilov.
Mr. Ismoilov is charged with inciting religious and racial hatred (Article 189 of Tajikistan’s Criminal Code), blackmailing (Article 250), defamation (Article 135) and insult (Article 136) for what he wrote in various publications including the newspaper Nuri Zindagi about alleged corruption among representatives of local judicial bodies and certain local officials.
We therefore urge you to intercede with the judicial authorities, within the limits of your powers under to constitution, so that an additional investigation can be conducted and so that Mr. Ismoilov’s trial can be transferred to a different location such as Dushanbe and can be heard by a court that is not directly involved.
In order to respect the principle of the presumption of innocence, Mr. Ismoilov must also be granted provisional release without delay. Pre-trial detention is a serious measure that seems out of all proportion in this case. He is not in a position to put pressure on witnesses or eliminate evidence. Depriving Mr. Ismoilov of his freedom seems more like an act of personal revenge than an act of impartial justice.
We hope that you, as the President and guarantor of constitutional rights of Tajik citizens, will make sure that Mr. Ismoilov is treated in a fair and equitable manner and that national and international rules of justice are respected. We trust that you will appreciate the importace of our request and will take an appropriate action.
Sincerely,
Jean-François Julliard Nuriddin Karshiboev
Reporters Without Borders Secretary-General NANSMIT Chairman
www.nansmit.tj