Tajikistan
In the battle with the Tajikistan justice system, independent media has its own useful weapons, and a lawyer isn't afraid to use them. Photograph by Flickr user Mathonan (CC-usage).
Editor’s note: The saga of three judges and three newspapers continues in Tajikistan and has taken an interesting turn as the journalists fight back with a new recording revealing the corruption in the Supreme Court. neweurasia’s Alpharabius reports. Check out his continuing coverage here.
Solehjon Juraev, the lawyer who ignited an astronomic lawsuit against three major independent newspapers in Tajikistan and who is the fourth defendant in the case, has made good on his promise by publishing another sensational recording that exposes the corrupt practices of the Supreme Court. The transcript could very well tilt the situation in favor of the newspapers.
Is corruption or survival the elephant in the room in Tajikistan? Image by Flickr user David Blackwell (CC-usage).
Editor’s note: neweurasia readers will already be well-acquainted with the ongoing Roghun project and the controversy surrounding it, as well as the news, announced first by our network, of a massive lawsuit by a trio of judges against a trio of independent newspapers. neweurasia’s Averroes sees a potentially serious ethical conflict between the government and press in Tajikistan and wants to know your opinion: whose side is right?
Imagine if you were the government of one of the world’s most economically vulnerable countries. Every winter millions of your citizens go cold as nearly limitless hydro-electrical potential goes untapped. Developing this potential would require an engineering feat.
Image by neweurasia's Schwartz (CC-usage).
The parliamentary elections in Tajikistan, with all its ups and downs, and despite some fears of larger troubles, seem to be quickly receding into the past. Let’s face it: it seems like our nation still believes that elections will neither be free nor transparent and no deputies in Majlis (parliament) will be courageous or capable enough to bring about changes to structure and quality of governing bodies in society.
It is hard to blame them since everyone understands that no democracy can allow one person to stay in power almost 20 years and control both the legislative and judicial branches. For many it is like living in a shah state (kingdom) where the king and his family can do anything their heart desires. Obviously, democracy is the rule of people, not ruling and mulling the people.
Gustave Wapper's famous painting depicting the Belgian Revolution.
Editor’s note: The Tajikistan opposition is furious at the recent parliamentary election results and is planning massive protest actions across the country. However, neweurasia’s Dushanbe, who has been following the controversy, advises caution: the opposition must very careful not to open themselves to accusations of fomenting a Color Revolution. Check out his earlier report here, as well as Alpharabius’ now disappointed hopes from before the election.
Three political parties — the Islamic Revival Party (IRP), the Social-Democrats Party (SDP), and the Democratic Party (DP) — say that the election was marred by mass fraud and the results were falsified. As the first step of protest, the two parties have already declared that they are leaving the Public Council, the coalition that was established by the government in 1996 for peace-building consensus. They are planning massive rallies, strikes, court debates, and even a boycott of the new parliament itself.
Is this the real logo of Rahmon's party? Photograph by Flickr user Hugo |-| (CC-usage).
Editor’s note: Opposition parties and candidates in Tajikistan are saying that the parliamentary election was tainted by many irregularities, elicit fraud, and a general lack of transparency. neweurasia’s Dushanbe relates several anecdotes of fraud, intimidation, and manipulation, including some eerily Soviet-style tricks.
Opposition parties and candidates in Tajikistan are saying that the parliamentary election was tainted by many irregularities, elicit fraud, and a general lack of transparency. The Islamic Revival Party of Tajikistan (IRPT) in particular has asked the Central Election Commission to review several dozens official complaints which they have submitted.
The election day was a rainy one in Tajikistan, but according to the Central Election Commission more than 85% of Tajik voters took part. The number of “politically active” populations in the mountainous regions, where a big snow was falling throughout the day and some roads were closed due to avalanches, managed to reach 89%. The figure recalls too uncomfortably similar inflated statistics from Soviet days.
Is the head of Tajikistan's Supreme Court the real enemy? Photograph by Flickr user Victor Nuno (CC-usage).
Editor’s note: The saga of three judges and three newspapers continues in Tajikistan and has taken an interesting turn: the human rights lawyer at the center of the lawsuit has accused Nusratullo Abdulloev, the head of the Supreme Court, as being the real problem, possibly offering the three plaintiffs a way out. neweurasia’s Alpharabius reports. Check out his continuing coverage here.
The Sino district court of Dushanbe has decided to postpone the trial of three independent newspapers until mid-March. The judge, Amriddin Safoev, has not given any particular day for resumption of the trial, but mentioned, by the way, that the hearing will be restarted after the parliamentary elections.
This remark of the judge, despite his immediate stipulation (”the trial has not related to elections in any way”), ignited journalists to question the independence of the court. Marat Mamadshoev, the Editor-in chief of Asia-Plus, one of the defendant newspapers, feels it is strange that the judge mentioned the coming elections and did not appoint an exact date for the trial.
Photograph by Flickr user Greenwich Photography (CC-usage).
As voting day (28 February 28) approaches, I’m starting to think there might actually be a free and fair election in my country — something which has never happened before despite many high-level promises and international criticisms.
All the previous elections were unfair and full of fraud. My countrymen would joke that Tajikistan has the most transparent election in the world in that the victor could already be seen without even counting the votes. We wonder why we even bother voting at all.
But this year may be different. According to the Central Election Commission, 225 candidates will fight for 63 seats in the Majlisi Namoyandagon (lower house). 41 of them are registered in single-mandate constituencies and 22 will be chosen on a party basis.
Compare: the current Majlis has only two members from the Islamic Revival Party, four members from the Communist Party. The rest are members of the ruling People’s Democratic Party of Tajikistan.
So, if nothing else, the parliament resulting from this election will probably be colorful, to say the least.
Rustam Emomali, the eldest son of the Tajik President, is set to become deputy of the city parliament, his father’s ruling party has decided.
He was elected to the pro-state Youth Union last April, and to the central board of the party last December, but many people say he was virtually appointed.
Photograph by Flickr user David Wild (CC-usage).
Uzbek border guards say they were close to open fire killing 25 Tajik servicemen who, according to them, violated state borders of Uzbekistan and intruded to its territory. The press service of the Uzbek National Security Service’s committee for border protection said:
By its actions, the Tajik side severely violated generally accepted international norms and bilateral agreements to keep the inviolability of the state borders. The intrusion could have been described as an armed invasion…
According to the statement, about 25 Tajik soldiers entered the Uzbek territory to release a colleague detained by the Uzbeks allegedly for trying to steal a cow.
The detainee admitted that he must have stolen cattle from Uzbek citizens under his commanders’ instructions. According to him, they had to do this because they had not been supplied with food for a long time.
However, the Tajik version of the incident is completely different. They told Interfax that the Tajik cow, left without caring, crossed the border and a Tajik soldier tried to get it back into Tajikistan. He and the cow were detained by Uzbeks.
A Tajik officer told Interfax that he and several soldiers tried to negotiate with the Uzbek border guards to release the Tajik servicemen “without crossing the borderline, in view of a simple human error”. The Uzbeks have rejected this.
Photograph of construction at Roghun from Asia-Plus.
Editor’s note: neweurasia’s Dushanbe describes how a possible Ragnarok is building up between the leaderships of Tajikistan and Uzbekistan over the Roghun dam project. Check out neweurasia’s ongoing coverage of the dam here.
Tajikistan has rejected the Uzbek proposal to suspend building the Roghun power plant until independent expertise determines its possible impact on environment and water distribution in the region.
In a reply letter to the Uzbek authorities, the Tajik Prime Minister Oqil Oqilov says his country will not change its plan to build the plant. He adds that they believe the new reservoir will help both countries to save and use regional water resources more effectively.
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