(RSF/IFEX) – The following is a 6 July 2001 joint press release from RSF and the Hamburg Foundation for the Politically Persecuted: Tajikistan/Moscow Guest of the City of Hamburg, Dododjon Atovulloev, arrested in Moscow If extradited to Tajikistan his life will be in danger Reporters without Borders and the Hamburg Foundation for the Politically Persecuted […]
(RSF/IFEX) – The following is a 6 July 2001 joint press release from RSF and the Hamburg Foundation for the Politically Persecuted:
Tajikistan/Moscow
Guest of the City of Hamburg, Dododjon Atovulloev, arrested in Moscow
If extradited to Tajikistan his life will be in danger
Reporters without Borders and the Hamburg Foundation for the Politically Persecuted protest against the arrest of the Tajik journalist Dododjon Atovulloev and demand his immediate release. The journalist must not be extradited to Tajikistan, must be able to leave Russia unhindered and return to Germany.
Dododjon Atovulloev, a guest of Reporters without Borders and the Hamburg Foundation for the Politically Persecuted since May 2001, was arrested yesterday at the Moscow airport. According to the information at our disposal he is being held in the public prosecutor’s office. Dododjon was on his way to Tashkent (Uzbekistan).
The Tajik government is demanding his extradition. According to our information the deputy head of the Tajik secret service is currently in Moscow as well – the fear is warranted that Dododjon Atovulloev could be extradited immediately. If he is extradited the journalist’s life will be in danger. Powerful people in Tajikistan wish to silence Atovulloev due to his frequent denunciation of Tajik rulers in the past, who are involved in corruption or the drug trade or support armed islamic militias in the neighbouring states of Kirgistan and Uzbekistan.
Background Information
The Hamburg Foundation for the Politically Persecuted offered Dododjon Atovulloev a one-year stipend in reaction to an urgent call for help from from the human rights organisation Reporters without Borders and the journalist Thomas Roth (ARD-Moscow; 1st German national television station, head of the Moscow studio).
In 1991 Dododjon Atovulloev founded the first private and independent democratic newspaper Charogi Rus (Daylight), which became the most popular newspaper in Tajikistan. During the five-year civil war (1992-1997) the newspaper became the most important platform of the exiled opposition. Atovulloev’s name was put on the list of subversive elements. Although Atovulloev participated in the UN peace negotiations his newspaper was not allowed to appear after the conclusion of the peace treaty in 1997.
Dododjon Atovulloev fled to Moscow and published Charogi Rus from Russian exile. There too the Tajik rulers had him in their sights: He emphatically admonished the observation of human rights and the adherence to democratic rules, and denounced the machinations of the authorities in the capital Dushanbe.
In April 2001 Dododjon Atovulloev was named the spokesman of the Central Asian opposition, whose headquarters is in London.
