Tajikistan: Journalist Mahmadyusuf Ismoilov was released after 9 years in prison
Mahmadyusuf Ismoilov, a journalist from Asht district of Sughd region, was released on April 16 after almost 9 years in prison.
In 2013, he was arrested for extorting money from a local resident. According to investigators, the journalist threatened 39-year-old Sanavbar Akhadova to reveal discrediting information and demanded money for her silence.
The court found him guilty of extortion and sentenced him to 11 years in prison, but during this time three amnesties were adopted and the term was reduced by a total of two years. In total, he spent 8 years and 10 months in prison.
However, from the very moment of his arrest, the journalist pleaded not guilty and stated that this was the revenge of the authorities for publishing critical articles exposing corruption and shortcomings in the work of state structures in his native Asht.
“I still consider myself innocent,” he told reporters after his release. According to the verdict, he has no right to practice journalism for three years, but Ismoilov doesn’t lose heart. “I will write humorous stories for the local newspaper, this is not forbidden,” he said.
Mahmadyusuf Ismoilov is known as a principled and honest journalist and has always been a thorn in the side of the authorities of Asht. In 2011, he was arrested on charges of ‘slander, insult, extortion and localistic tendencies’ and spent almost a year in custody. According to Ismoilov, he was actually detained for publishing a critical article entitled “Asht is turning into ruins”. Then local and international media organizations came to his defense, and the journalist was released from the courtroom.
