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Tajik authorities have handed down lengthy jail phrases to a few unbiased journalists and bloggers in latest days on what media watchdogs say are trumped-up expenses.
4 different reporters are awaiting sentencing amid allegations that a few of them have been tortured in detention. The trials have all been held behind closed doorways, stopping public scrutiny.
The convictions in opposition to and trial of the journalists are a part of a renewed crackdown on dissent in Tajikistan, the place the authoritarian authorities doesn’t tolerate free speech.
All seven journalists and bloggers have been arrested between Could and July. Observers mentioned the arrests have been an try by the authorities to management public opinion following the federal government’s lethal crackdown on protests within the restive Gorno-Badakhshan area.
Europe-based opposition activist Farhod Odinaev says the most recent clampdown on unbiased journalists will “additional spoil Tajikistan’s fame as a repressive state that doesn’t tolerate unbiased media and free speech.”
Within the newest conviction, a Dushanbe courtroom on October 17 sentenced blogger Daler Imomali to 10 years in jail. He was discovered responsible of tax evasion, disseminating false data, and membership within the banned opposition social gathering Group 24, which the authorities take into account to be a terrorist group.
The 34-year-old pleaded responsible to tax evasion. However he has denied having any hyperlinks to Group 24. The opposition social gathering additionally insists that Imomali has by no means been a member or contributor.
Imomali’s conviction got here weeks after unbiased blogger Muhammad Sulton, 72, was sentenced to seven years in jail. Abdulloh Ghurbati, 26, one other blogger, was given a 7 1/2 12 months sentence.
Sulton is thought for his criticism of Tajikistan’s safety and intelligence providers. He had additionally condemned the federal government’s violent crackdown on anti-government protests in his residence area of Gorno-Badakhshan in Could.
Moreover Sulton, the opposite journalists and bloggers arrested in latest months weren’t overtly vital of Dushanbe. They reported on native social and financial points.
One of many bloggers, Zavqibek Saidamini, had beforehand mentioned that he usually obtained letters from Dushanbe residents about particular points. In flip, he would current the letters to related officers, he mentioned.
The video blogger insisted that “talking about issues doesn’t imply criticizing the federal government.”
Chilling Impact
Courts in Tajikistan function underneath the heavy affect of the federal government, particularly in circumstances linked to politics, safety, and the media.
Nuriddin Qarshiboev, the top of Tajikistan’s Affiliation of Impartial Media, says the “harsh” sentences handed right down to unbiased reporters in latest weeks are aimed toward quashing dissent.
“Authorities attempt to get the whole data house underneath management and don’t need to enable any different voice in society,” Qarshiboev mentioned.
Some native journalists say the sentences are already having a chilling impact.
“These reporters weren’t even that outstanding or family names,” mentioned a journalist from the northern metropolis of Khujand who spoke on situation of anonymity for concern of retribution. “Therefore, their sentencing makes all the pieces much more worrying for us.”
“It makes me assume that I need to avoid even the slightest criticism of life in Tajikistan or l will rot in jail,” the journalist added.
Gorno-Badakhshan Unrest
The arrests of the seven journalists got here within the wake of the federal government’s crackdown on protests in Gorno-Badakhshan. Authorities mentioned 16 individuals have been killed, though different sources give a a lot increased demise toll.
Among the many journalists arrested have been Gorno-Badakhshan natives Ulfatkhonim Mamadshoeva, 65, and Khushruz Jumaev, 24.
Journalist and activist Mamadshoeva was charged with calling for the overthrow of the federal government. She may face the utmost penalty of 25 years in jail if discovered responsible.
Prosecutors accuse Mamadshoeva of serving to to prepare the protests in Gorno-Badakhshan. However a day earlier than her arrest on Could 18, Mamadshoeva informed RFE/RL that she had nothing to do with the demonstrations. Her trial started in August.
Jumaev, recognized by his pen identify Khushom Ghulom, was charged with calling for the seizure of energy by power. It’s unknown if his trial has begun.
On his YouTube channel, Jumaev principally coated nonpolitical points like tradition, historical past, and native languages in his residence area.
Not all the circumstances in opposition to the journalists and bloggers have been associated to the unrest in Gorno-Badakhshan.
Tajik authorities have a long-standing monitor report of focusing on journalists and media retailers that counter the state’s narratives.
Through the years, many unbiased publications have been shut down for criticizing authorities insurance policies.
Dushanbe additionally usually blocks or restricts entry to foreign-based media retailers that concentrate on Tajikistan, together with RFE/RL’s Tajik Service, the personal Bomdod information company, and all on-line media run by the opposition in exile.
The International Ministry usually refuses to subject accreditation to reporters who work for international media.
In response to media watchdog Reporters With out Borders, Tajik journalists who criticize the federal government threat bodily assaults, intimidation, and imprisonment because the authorities’ “repressive bent” intensifies “steadily.”
“Journalists discover it just about not possible to work on points that the federal government considers ‘delicate,’ with out exposing themselves, or family and friends, to hazard,” the watchdog mentioned in its 2022 press freedom index.
Allegations Of Torture, Confessions Beneath Duress
Among the many seven journalists and bloggers on trial is Abdusattor Pirmuhammadzoda. The 44-year-old has been charged with publicly calling for extremist actions.
A supply near the investigation informed RFE/RL that Pirmuhammadzoda has been bodily and psychologically “tortured” in custody.
Talking on situation of anonymity, the supply mentioned the alleged ill-treatment has left Pirmuhammadzoda depressed and bearing bodily signs, together with “bruised palms and fingernails.”
Pirmuhammadzoda’s family members consider that the police obtained a compelled confession from him.
An identical declare was made by the household of Ghurbati, the jailed blogger. They are saying the police pressured him to make a video assertion confessing his guilt.
In the meantime, the household of Saidamini, the blogger on trial, say they haven’t seen or heard from him since his arrest three months in the past.
Tajik police and courtroom officers didn’t reply to RFE/RL’s requests for remark.
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