(Adil Soz/IFEX) – On 24 April 2005, officers of the Aininsk District Internal Affairs Department arrested Djumaboi Tolibov, a journalist and the head of the legal department of Aininsk district administration (Ispagan village, Aininsk district, Soghdiy region), in Dushanbe. The journalist is still being held in an isolation cell. The journalist was reportedly detained in […]
(Adil Soz/IFEX) – On 24 April 2005, officers of the Aininsk District Internal Affairs Department arrested Djumaboi Tolibov, a journalist and the head of the legal department of Aininsk district administration (Ispagan village, Aininsk district, Soghdiy region), in Dushanbe. The journalist is still being held in an isolation cell.
The journalist was reportedly detained in connection with a number of articles he had published in “Minbari halk” newspaper, the medium of the National Democratic party of Tajikistan. The articles in question were titled, “Prokurori mushtzur” (“Prosecutor’s arbitrariness”), published on 18 August 2004; “Pushtibonhoi prokurori mushtzur kihoyand?” (“Who is backing the prosecutor?”), published on 10 November 2004; and an article titled, “Miro ki himoya mekunad?” (Who is going to protect us?”), published in the parliamentary newspaper on 18 September 2004.
The articles were critical of the Aininsk district prosecutor, Sayfidin Azamov. Tolibov argued in the reports that, as secretary of the coordination council, he was ordered by the head of the district administration to request information from Azamov about the current crime rate and measures taken during the first six months of 2004 to prevent its growth. In response, the prosecutor reportedly insulted Tolibov and struck him while the journalist was in his office. Tolibov has filed complaints with the General Prosecutor’s Office and the Soghdiy Procuracy, but no legal action has been taken against against the prosecutor.
On 1 June, the Soghdiy Regional Prosecutor’s Office confirmed that Tolibov had been arrested. According to the regional deputy prosecutor, Izatullo Muhamadiyev, the Soghdiy Regional Prosecutor’s Office and the Internal Affairs Department have filed two criminal actions against the journalist on charges of “hooliganism” and “obstructing an officer”. The deputy prosecutor claimed that Tolibov’s arrest was not related to his professional activities, nor the publications of the articles criticising Azamov.
On 31 May, the journalist’s wife, Sanavbar Tolibova, asked the National Association of Independent Mass Media in Tajikistant (NANSMIT) for assistance.
Tolibov is a member of the International Confederation of Journalists’ Unions.
This alert was prepared with information from NANSMIT, an Adil Soz partner.
