Tajik parliament develops a draft law on access to information

On 30 December, the Tajik Parliamentarian Committee on International Affairs, Public Organizations and Information held a round table in Dushanbe on the necessity of reforms in the Law “On printing and other mass media”. Olim Salimzoda, chairman of the Parliamentarian Committee says that the necessity of development of a new draft law is based on numerous reports in the domestic media on the lack of access to public information and the reluctance of authorities and ministerial officials to share information with journalists.

Speaking about the contents of the new draft law, Salimzoda said that the new document indicates the timeframes within which information should be provided to the media upon their requests.

“The amended law will contain special provisions guaranteeing provision of publicly important information not only to the media, but also to any applicants, — said Salimzoda. — Besides that, there are certain provisions in the law concerning the representatives in every government institution in charge of public information”.

Among the participants of the round table that was held in the Tajik Union of Journalists were representatives of the Parliament, the President’s Office, the Tajik National Association of Independent Media (NANSMIT), the Tajik National Press Center, the Tajik Media Alliance, and other public organizations.

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