The head and one of the founders of Kun.uz media, Makhsudjon Askarov, was fined $ 1,156 by the Chilanzar District Criminal Court of Tashkent on June 21 for materials of religious content published on the website.
The administrative case was opened following the results of a religious examination of materials within the framework of Internet monitoring conducted by the Main Directorate for Combating Terrorism and Extremism under the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
After the court’s decision, the content in the Uzbek-language version of the media wasn’t updated for more than a day. Having resumed their work, the journalists expressed their outrage at the latest attack on freedom of speech in their published statement.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs, on dubious reasons, didn’t like seven articles before and during Ramadan. In particular, a quote in the content about the police in New Zealand, which presented a uniform stylized as a hijab, aroused suspicion. In this the security officials were supported by the expert group of the Committee on Religious Affairs under the Cabinet of Ministers. Kun.uz cites the expert’s conclusion, “An intentional demonstration of police officers in hijabs, even in non-Muslim countries, is prohibited to spread, as this may lead to a secret escalation of disagreements among the population on these issues.”
In order to somehow maintain their professional reputation, the experts nevertheless came to the conclusion that “the publications don’t call for an unconstitutional change of the existing state system, the seizure of power, the creation of an Islamic state and the introduction of a caliphate form of government, the spread of extremism, slanderous fabrications, etc.” The examination also revealed that “the materials lack information that promotes national, racial, religious and ethnic enmity”.
Earlier, ACCA wrote about the regular interference of the authorities in the editorial policy of Kun.uz and coercion to remove materials. The most active in pressing journalists is the State Security Service.
In recent years, at least once a week, the editorial office has received protests about some publications; instructions are given to change or delete them completely.
In addition to the Security Service, the government agencies also exert pressure on the media. Director of the Agency for Information and Mass Communications under the Presidential Administration, Asadjon Khojaev, accused Kun.uz of bias and warned of “serious legal consequences”. The head of the Agency for Information and Mass Communications saw in one of the texts “an accusation against the government of Uzbekistan of committing a crime against the population”.
The court also considered the administrative case against the managers of Azon.uz on that day. The editor-in-chief of Azon.uz Abdulaziz Muborak, the founder of the media Mubashshir Ahmad and the head of Azon TV Farhod Tokhirov were fined $ 462; and the director of Azon New Media LLC Gairatkhodja Saidaliev was fined $ 1,156. All of them were responsible for the appearance of 12 materials, which caused the displeasure of the authorities.
Abdulaziz Muborak told the online edition “Gazeta.uz” about the essence of the claims using one example.
“Let’s say there is an article with headline “Relations between Turkey and Russia have worsened”. There were accusations against us that such kind of articles about foreign countries could damage the relations with Uzbekistan, as well as accusations that materials of religious content didn’t pass the examination,” the editor-in-chief said.
The journalist claims that the Committee for Religious Affairs gave oral consent to the publication of the materials due to the lack of time for issuing permits.
According to the ACCA expert, the attacks on Kun.uz are carried out deliberately due to the attempts of journalists to raise acute social problems.
“In the case of Azon.uz, one can see, most likely, a situational reaction to the next outrageousness in publications and the settling of personal scores. This media is distinguished by an almost complete lack of tolerance and is part of the system of the so-called “Islamic street” controlled by the special services,” sums up the expert of the human rights portal.
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