Law enforcement agencies of Tajikistan have detained two journalists Daler Imomali and Abdullo Gurbati.
On the morning of June 15, Daler Imomali managed to write on Facebook that he was stopped on Dushanbe-Khujand highway by police officers of Ayni district. He was going to Kanibadam to shoot his new film. In the afternoon, Daler was taken to the Prosecutor’s Office of Shohmansur district of the capital.
On the same day, Abdullo Gurbati, co-author of Daler Imomali’s reports, was invited to the Prosecutor’s Office. According to media reports, an hour later, Gurbati was taken to the Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in Shohmansur district.
Human rights activists connect the detention of Daler Imomali and Abdullo Gurbati with their attempt to make an interview on June 4 with the chairman of Shohmansur district, after which he was detained by law enforcement officers and interrogated.
Journalists from Radio Ozodi, who drove up to the building of the Prosecutor’s Office of Shohmansur district of Dushanbe, only managed to notice that Daler and his lawyer, Abdurahmon Sharipov, were put into a car with tinted windows in the evening and taken away in an unknown direction.
This morning, on June 16, Daler Imomali was charged with illegal business and tax evasion. He ran his YouTube channel and, according to the security forces, benefited from his blogging activities. So, he had to register and pay taxes.
According to Imomali’s lawyer, during the interrogation, his client stated that he deleted the scandalous video after the interrogation and repentance, and that he didn’t know that he had to pay taxes for his activities as a blogger. Daler Imomali is a member of the Union of Journalists of Tajikistan.
Abdullo Gurbati was charged with using violence against a government official. Most likely, during the incident in the reception room of the chairman of Shohmansur district, bloggers were forced out of the reception room, and Gurbati, defending himself, could push away one of the officials of the local administration, which was the reason for initiating a criminal case against him.
It’s worth recalling that Daler Imomali and Abdullo Gurbati are known for their scandalous reports and live broadcasts on topical issues in the Tajik-speaking segment of the Internet. Daler Imomali has 140 thousand subscribers, and his videos reach half a million views, which is a big indicator for Tajikistan.
The whereabouts of the bloggers are currently unknown.
International human rights organizations constantly criticize Tajikistan for restricting freedom of speech, violating religious freedoms and persecuting other-minded people. In response, the authorities of Tajikistan say that there is no reason to criticize and that all conditions have been created in the country for the free operation of all media.
