Tajiks Face Jail for Internet Libel
Tuesday, 24 July, 2007
Tajiks Face Jail for Internet Libel
Tuesday, 24 July, 2007
On July 19, the upper house of the Tajik parliament approved amendments to the criminal code extending the criminal offence of libel as applied to conventional media so that it covers web publications. The existing penalties – up to two years in prison, a 3,000 to 6,000 US dollar fine, or 240 hours community service.
Abdughafor Abdujabborov, chief of staff at the culture ministry, says the amendments will make people more accountable for deliberately spreading slanderous statements and misinformation.
“I am not in favour of tougher rules and restrictions, but there do need to be instruments to make people think about the consequences of their actions before they do anything,” he said.
NBCentralAsia media-watchers believe that these legal amendments represent a restriction of freedom of speech and will make life harder for online journalists, who may be unjustly targeted, especially by officials.
The chairman of the National Association of Independent Media, Nuriddin Karshiboev, says the changes will allow the authorities to track and prosecute anyone who writes articles for the web, narrowing the scope for creativity.
Officials tend to take criticism badly and could use the defamation clause to defend themselves.
When a lawsuit is brought against the media or an individual journalist, the decision generally goes against them as the judicial system is far from perfect, and pressure can be applied through a quick phone call from an official.
Rahmatullo Zoirov, a trained lawyer and chairman of the opposition Social Democratic Party, says these amendments are not well-timed, and provide more justification for restricting the rights of journalists and internet users.
Marat Mamadshoev, a well-known journalist, goes further than that, saying that the amendments are a “reactionary step” against the internet because it is a “sphere of maximum freedom”.
“Our legislators are turning the screws because they want to protect themselves from criticism even on the internet,” he said.
Khurshed Niyozov, head of the chairman of the Centre for Journalism Studies and editor-in-chief of the Faraj newspaper, says part of the wording in the legislation, which refers to insulting a person’s “honour and dignity”, needs to be removed altogether, as has been done in most countries. Alternatively, it could be replaced with terms such as libel, slander and misinformation.
Zafar Abdullaev, editor in chief of the Fakty i Kommentarii paper, doubts these changes will have serious consequences for freedom of speech in Tajikistan.
“Professional media and journalists have nothing to worry about, because the laws in this country do not work, and so far all restrictions on the internet have been lost in oblivion on the web itself”.
Last October, the Tajik communications ministry decided to block public access to a number of websites hosted on foreign domains and critical of the authorities, but it later withdrew its decision.
(News Briefing Central Asia draws comment and analysis from a broad range of political observers across the region.)
