In Tajikistan, local authorities try to make a beaten journalist accused

On May 29, the journalist of the media holding “Asia-plus” Abdullo Gurbati was beaten by unidentified persons in Khuroson region, where he went on assignment from the editorial office. However, instead of searching for criminals, the Tajik Interior Ministry accused the journalist himself of wanting to excite a feeling of dissatisfaction with the state and government among the residents.

The Interior Ministry’s report said that “Abdullo Gurbati, despite the unwillingness of the residents of Khuroson region to come in the tent, where they temporarily live after a natural disaster, tried to get inside and make a video of family members of the victims, especially minors, and then prepare a “sensational material”. According to the Ministry, the residents didn’t like this behavior of the correspondent, so they drove Abdullo Gurbati out and didn’t allow him to violate the inviolability of the home and interfere in their private life.” According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the journalist, despite the reluctance of the residents, continued to make a video, as a result of which a conflict arose between him and the residents “that grew into a violation of public order”.

The journalist himself denied the statement of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and said that he was attacked when he hadn’t even managed to get to the tents and, moreover, talk with local residents. Moreover, the police officers, who arrived at the scene, took the journalist’s mobile phone, and after returning, it turned out that all the videos were deleted, and the phone stopped working.

In addition to that, in support of the version of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, on social networks and some other media, there was “an appeal of the residents of Khuroson region, affected by the disaster, to the Union of Journalists of the Republic of Tajikistan and Rajab Mirzo”, under which there are 300 signatures.

The appeal said that no one had beaten the journalist, and he was “driven out of the tents by girls and women” who didn’t want him to shoot “women, girls and minor children” on camera. Residents of Khuroson say they will turn to law enforcement agencies and will not allow the journalist to go unpunished.

“So, the beaten journalist, who did his professional work, is accused of breaking the law and can be held accountable,” summed up the editor-in-chief of Asia-plus, Umed Babakhanov. “We are very concerned about the attempts of certain circles to introduce journalists as enemies of the state and government. No one set the journalist the task of “exciting a feeling of dissatisfaction with the state and government among the residents”. Video recordings from the journalist’s phone could confirm this, but at the Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in Khuroson, the journalist’s phone was seized and returned in non-working state at the end of the day.”

A political scientist from Tajikistan in an interview with ACCA said that in the context of the coronavirus pandemic, the financial crisis and growing discontent among the population of Tajikistan, the authorities are trying in every way to protect themselves from the cataclysm.

“In the context of the latest events of scandals with the sale and appropriation of humanitarian aid by the President’s family, the already difficult situation in the country strained even more,” the expert says. “It’s clear that in such a situation, the authorities must take retaliatory steps so that the situation doesn’t get out of control. The statement of the Ministry of Internal Affairs on the fact of the beating of the journalist and the complaints of the residents of Khuroson district cause laughter because of the implausibility and stupidity of these statements. Most of the signatures in the application of the residents of Khuroson are forged. It’s visible to the naked eye, and the examination will prove it completely. All this proves only one thing – the regime of Rahmon is experiencing real fear, so the attacks on journalists and civic activists will only intensify.”