Tashkent’s Mirzo Ulugbek district court has fined an Uzbek reporter for the U.S.-funded radio station Voice of America (VOA) the equivalent of about $10,000, RFE/RL’s Uzbek Service reports.

Abdumalik Boboev, a freelancer for VOA’s Uzbek Service, was found guilty of slander and distributing materials that pose a threat to public order.

The court dropped a charge against him of illegally crossing Uzbekistan’s state border.

An investigation in the case was launched in early September and sent to court soon after.

Boboev told RFE/RL before the trial that all the charges against him are baseless.

Boboev, 41, was among several journalists summoned by the Prosecutor-General’s Office last year for questioning about alleged «unaccredited» journalistic activities.

http://www.rferl.org/content/Uzbek_VOA_Freelancer_Fined/2191941.html

Many Tajiks and Uzbeks believe there is no love lost between their respective presidents, Emomali Rahmon and Islom Karimov.

This week, Karimov took it one step further. He called Tajikistan’s national scheme — the Roghun hydropower plants — a «stupid project.»

If Tajikistan goes on to complete Roghun as planned, it would leave Uzbekistan facing water shortages for eight years until Roghun dam filled with water, Karimov said during his trip to Karakalpakstan autonomous republic.

Karimov likened Roghun to Russia’s Sayano-Shushenskaya hydroelectric station, where an accident caused the deaths of 75 people in 2009. Both Soviet-era giant projects were drafted by the same people some 40 years ago with disregard to safety issues, Karimov said.

Over the past two decades, the two long-serving Central Asian leaders have had a strained relationship and frequent disagreements over almost all major bilateral and regional issues, ranging from security and common borders to transport, energy, and regional cooperation.

Roghun, however, has proved an even bigger disagreement.

Tajikistan depends on Uzbekistan for gas, transport routes, and electricity power lines. For years, Dushanbe has blamed Tashkent for leaving it in an economic blockade by frequently blocking Tajik transit trains and vehicles, cutting off gas supplies and preventing Tajikistan from importing Turkmen electricity through its territory.

Water seems to be the only thing makes Uzbekistan dependant on its impoverished, upstream neighbor.

Dushanbe’s only hope is Roghun, which Tajikistan hopes will make the country a major electricity exporter and puts an end to its energy reliance on neighbors.

Tashkent, however, has asked Russia and the United Nations to pressure Dushanbe to stop the project.

I’ve been fighting against this stupid project for five years, Karimov told Karakalpakstan farmers.

He promised not to let Tajikistan to reduce the amount of water flowing to Uzbekistan and the shrinking Aral Sea even by «one gram.»

Karimov’s speech was greeted with lengthy applause by farmers.

In private, however, some might be wondering the two neighboring nations would have been far better off if their leaders instead opted for cooperation and rapprochement.

Farangis Najibullah, RFE/RL

Источник: http://www.rferl.org/content/Dont_Love_Your_Neighbor/2185027.html

Tajik authorities say graduates of foreign religious schools could pose a threat to their homeland — and they’re taking steps to address the issue.

Tajik students studying at Cairo’s Al-Azhar University say they are concerned about Dushanbe’s request that the prominent Islamic school send back anyone studying outside official government quotas.

Representatives of the students told RFE/RL’s Tajik Service that they have appealed to Tajikistan’s Embassy in Cairo and the university administration to allow some 50 Tajik students to complete their studies at Al-Azhar.

The students entered the university privately and now fear the Al-Azhar might send them home, as required by the authorities in Dushanbe.

«Some students are returning home because their parents have been questioned about their children’s whereabouts,» student representatives say.

The authorities have stressed lately that Tajik citizens should only enter foreign religious schools through government quotas or at least with the knowledge of the country’s education officials.

Education authorities and Tajik diplomats abroad – most notably the country’s ambassador to Pakistan – have repeatedly warned that some young men from Tajikistan have ended up in unregistered and underground madrasahs with extremist agendas.

The most serious warning, however, came most recently from President Emomali Rahmon.

Shortly before the start of the new school year, Rahmon called on parents to bring their children back from foreign madrasahs.

«Most of them will become extremists and terrorists, because those schools don’t only teach religion,» Rahmon said.

He added that the Tajik religious authorities had set up their own religious schools and opened an Islamic university in Dushanbe to train domestic mullahs.

The Education Ministry announced recently that students returning from foreign Islamic schools would take a «rehabilitation» program. The ministry did not elaborate on the details.

Education officials say they do not have the exact number of Tajik citizens undergoing religious studies abroad. They estimate there are at least 6,000 of them. However, they say that only some 2,000 have informed the authorities about their religious studies abroad.

Farangis Najibullah, RFE/RL

Источник: http://www.rferl.org/

As security forces in Tajikistan hunt for suspected Islamic militants in the Rasht Valley, the country’s Defense Ministry is lashing out at media outlets that have questioned the government’s crisis-management skills. Far from cowering in the face of a government attack, however, media outlets are preparing to fight back.

Telephone connections with the Rasht Valley remain severed and state-controlled media outlets are providing few details about the ongoing security sweep in the region. The dearth of verifiable information has fueled speculation about the nature of the threat: officials insist that international Islamic terrorists are behind a string of recent violent incidents [4]. But some observers believe [5] that former opposition elements from Tajikistan’s 1992-97 Civil War may be becoming militarily active again.

Whatever the source, fighting is continuing in the Rasht Valley, according to government reports. On October 4, at least four elite police officers were killed in Rasht’s Kamarob Gorge, scene of a September 19 militant ambush [6] that left at least 28 Tajik soldiers dead. Some reports put this week’s death toll higher.

In an October 4 statement, Defense Minister Sherali Khairulloyev said that media criticism of the government’s response to the militant threat was tantamount to disloyalty. Critical reports help “destabilize” the country, Khairulloyev contended, adding that journalists who continue to question government tactics and strategy could face punishment. Khairulloyev’s statement was published by the state-run Khovar news agency.

The blame and recrimination started on September 25, when the Defense Ministry repeatedly aired a news conference on state television. In the broadcast, Tajik defense officials accused private media outlets of attempting to weaken the country’s leadership by criticizing the government’s response to the recent security challenges – namely, a high-profile prison break [7] in late August in Dushanbe, followed by a suicide bomb attack in Khujand, and the ongoing military operations in Rasht.

Media rights advocates seem undaunted by the Defense Ministry’s PR offensive. In a September 27 statement, representatives of 17 media organizations, including the National Association of Independent Mass-Media in Tajikistan (NANSMIT), rejected the Defense Ministry’s accusations. “Military officials went far beyond their mandates,” the statement asserted. “This is an attempt upon the professional rights of journalists and a violation of the constitutional right of citizens on access to information.”

“We also consider that the Defense Ministry is trying to shift the blame on to the media, whereas the latter carry out their mission in compliance with legislation and professional ethics,” the statement added.

Starting on September 29, some media outlets – including the independent Avesta news agency, tjknews.com and centrasia.ru – experienced periodic access problems in Tajikistan after publishing stories that cast doubt on the government’s version of events. Media representatives suspect the government is taking action to block access to the websites.

NANSMIT chairman Nuriddin Karshibaev told EurasiaNet.org that the government had deployed the tax police in an apparent attempt to silence some nettlesome media outlets. Inspectors were said to be probing the finances of the private Oila printing press, where most of the country’s independent weeklies are printed. There is an “obvious” link between the recent critical coverage and authorities’ “punitive measures,” Karshibaev said.

Marat Mamadshoev, editor of the Asia Plus news agency suggested that recent events were highlighting a “struggle” within government. “There are many people who want to eliminate independent mass media and control everything,” he said. They do this to “avoid criticism.”

NANSMIT representatives say they are preparing for a fight. Both the journalists and the defense minister are demanding apologies from each other. “Non-state media have the duty to make a very clear statement about the suppression of freedom of expression,” Karshibaev said. He added that media representatives were considering filing a lawsuit against the Defense Ministry.
Lidia Isamova, a well-known Tajik journalist and media analyst said the Defense Ministry stance was bringing journalists together in an “unprecedented” show of “solidarity.”

Khurshed Atovullo, chairman of Tajikistan’s Media Alliance, another media rights advocacy body, told EurasiaNet.org that at least five prominent editors had agreed on a response to the defense minister’s accusations. “They will publish their next issue with a blank page carrying the headline, ‘Upon the request of the Minister of Defense of the Republic of Tajikistan, General Khairulloyev,’ instead of telling readers about the events in Rasht,” Atovullo said.

2010 © Eurasianet

EurasiaNet

Источник: http://www.eurasianet.org/node/62089

DUSHANBE — Tajik Defense Minister Sherali Khairulloev has accused independent newspapers of sympathizing with the Islamic militants who
ambushed an army convoy in late August, RFE/RL’s Tajik Service reports.

In an official statement issued on October 4, Khairulloev accused the media of «biased and one-sided» coverage of the August 19 attack in Rasht, east of Dushanbe, in which at least 25 Tajik conscripts were killed. He called for legal action to be taken.

Nuriddin Qarshiboev, who heads Tajikistan’s Association of Independent Media, told RFE/RL that Khairulloev’s accusation is unfounded, and he should present evidence to substantiate his charges. Qarshiboev said if he fails to do so, journalists will sue him for libel.

The editors of «Farazh», which was specifically cited by Khairulloev for being biased, and five other independent newspapers — «Busines i Politika,» «Fakty i Kommentarii,» «Asia Plus,» and «Paykon» — plan to leave one page blank in their next weekly editions to protest. They have appealed to other weeklies to do the same.

The independent press and the Defense Ministry have previously exchanged accusations over coverage of the Rasht attack.

Two weeks ago, state television broadcast a Defense Ministry statement criticizing initial coverage of the incident. Independent media outlets responded one week ago by protesting the criticism and demanding an apology from the ministry for «insulting the free media.»

http://www.rferl.org/content/Tajik_Minister_Accuses_Media_Of_Sympathizing_With_Militants/2177185.htm

At present, the newspaper is published twice a week with a circulation of 5 thousand copies. Makhmudjon Ibragimov, head of the municipal analytical-information department in Khujand told Asia Plus that the newspaper has received financial support from the province authorities.

The government newspaper Khakikati Sughd is one of the oldest printing outlets in Tajikistan. It was founded on 30 March 1930, and since then it has changed its name several times. Before the mid 1990-s it was printed under the names of Leninabadskaya Pravda, Khakikati Leninobod, and Leninobod Khakikati. It was printed five times a week with a circulation of 45 thousand copies.

www.asiaplus.tj

VARZOB, Tajikistan, 30 September 2010 — A workshop bringing together media law experts from the lower house of the Tajik Parliament, civilsociety and academia concluded today with concrete proposals to improvethe existing law on press and other mass media.

The three-day expert workshop, supported by the OSCE Office inTajkistan, was initiated by civil society during a public debatefollowing the publication of draft amendments to the law. The Members ofParliament who authored the draft amendments, as well as Andrei Richter,director of the Moscow Media Law and Policy Institute, also took part.

«The public debate on this legal initiative and the openness of membersof parliament to listen to the arguments from media law experts in civilsociety and academia and international expertise at an early stage arean excellent praxis in media law making,» said Dunja Mijatovic, the OSCERepresentative on Freedom of the Media, in a message to workshopparticipants.

Ambassador Ivar Vikki, the Head of the OSCE Office in Tajikistan, said «The workshop made it possible for expert opinions, and civil societyexpertise and experience to be heard by decision-makers in thelegislative process.»

Olim Salimzoda, the Head of the Parliamentary Committee forInternational Relations, Public Organizations and Information, added: «The discussions in this workshop give us excellent insight into issuesthat are of concern for civil society with regard to the regulatoryframework for the media in Tajikistan. We will consider them togetherwith our colleagues in the parliamentary committee in the ongoingdiscussion on this law.»

The workshop resulted in detailed recommendations on the draft whichtake into account experience with the practical implementation of thecurrent law, as well as key OSCE commitments on media freedom, includingaccess to information, defamation and libel and freedom of expression.

For further information, please contact: Michael Unland, Media Officer, OSCE Office in Tajikistan, tel.: (+992 918 67 74 13) E-mail: Michael. Unland@osce.org Website:http//www.osce,org

www.osce.org

The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) has voiced alarm over the treatment of journalists in Uzbekistan.

The OSCE’s freedom of the media representative, Dunja Mijatovic, said in a statement that she is «alarmed by the unrelenting judicial pressure exerted upon independent journalists in Uzbekistan.»

Writing to the Uzbek foreign minister, Vladimir Norov, Mijatovic expressed concern for two journalists, Abdumalik Boboyev and Vladimir Berezovski, prosecuted for alleged libel.

Mijatovic also expressed concern about three other journalists — Dilmurod Saiid, Solijon Abdurahmanov, and Hairullo Khamidov — who are currently serving jail sentences of between six and 12 1/2 years.

In her letter to the Uzbek foreign minister, Mijatovic wrote that «non state-media in Uzbekistan continue to be the target of unrelenting judicial harassment and this is a matter of serious concern to me.»

— RFE/RL Central Newsroom

http://www.rferl.org/content/OSCE_Criticizes_Uzbek_Treatment_Of_Journalists/2167187.html

A leading human rights activist in Uzbekistan has been convicted of defamation and fined, RFE/RL’s Uzbek Service reports.

Surat Ikramov, the leader of the Human Rights Initiative Group of Uzbekistan, was convicted of slander and defamation by a Tashkent court on September 28.

The court fined him 100,000 soms ($62) in compensation and ordered him to publish a disclaimer on a report he published in 2007. Ikramov told RFE/RL he will appeal the court ruling.

The report deemed defamatory was related to the mysterious death of pop singer Dilnura Qodirjonova, who was reported to have died of a heart attack in 2007.

But Qodirjonova’s mother, Oktyabrkhon Yusupova, told Ikromov’s rights group and other nongovernmental organizations that her daughter had been killed by Jamshid Matlyubov, a police officer and brother of Interior Minister Bakhodir Matlyubov.

Human Rights Initiative Group of Uzbekistan and the Ezgulik rights group included the mother’s version of Qodirjonova’s death in their published reports, writing that Bakhodir Matlyubov was Qodirjonova’s lover and was directly involved in her death.

In 2009, one Rena Matmurodova, an alleged babysitter for Qodirjonova’s child, charged that the rights groups had slandered her and demanded 15 million soms ($7,000) in compensation — despite the fact that her name was not mentioned in the rights groups’ reports.

Ikramov told RFE/RL that the investigation into the defamation charges was controlled by top officials in the Interior Ministry.

«I am sure that Jamshid Matlyubov and his brother, Interior Minister Bakhodir Matlyubov, were behind this court decision,» Ikramov said. «They have connections with the prosecutor’s office, hence the leverage to pressure the court [to make this decision against me].»

Meanwhile, another defamation trial began on September 29 against the Ezgulik rights group. Ezgulik also published a report in 2008 and a press release in 2009 about Qodirjonova’s «mysterious death.»

The group was already convicted earlier this year of slander and defamation and ordered to pay 200,000 soms to Matmurodova and publish a disclaimer over its 2008 report.

Now the rights group is being tried on the same charges for the 2009 press release on Qodirjonova’s death.

Ezgulik head Vasila Inoyatova told RFE/RL that the conviction and new charges are examples of «total lawlessness» and promised to raise the issue during an Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) conference in Warsaw that she will participate in later this week.

http://www.rferl.org/content/Uzbek_Rights_Activist_Convicted_Of_Defamation_/2172611.html

Russia has reopened criminal probes into the deaths of five journalists following an appeal by an international media rights group.

The Prosecutor-General’s Office said it is reopening criminal investigations into the deaths of five journalists between 2001 and 2005 after receiving new information from the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ).

The Investigative Committee of the Prosecutor-General’s Office says it has reopened criminal probes into the killings of Valery Ivanov and Aleksei Sidorov in the city of Togliatti in 2002 and 2003, as well as the 2001 shooting of Eduard Markevich near the town of Asbest, the death of Natalya Skryl in Taganrog in 2002, and the killing of Vagif Kochetkov in Tula in 2005.

With 19 journalists murdered since 2000, Russia is ranked eighth on the CPJ’s list of countries where journalists are killed and governments fail to solve the crimes.

compiled from Reuters reports

http://www.rferl.org/content/Russia_Reopens_Probes_Into_Slayings_Of_Journalists/2172477.html