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.

Procedural problems

The second hearing took place yesterday.  It was short and adjourned after an official declaration of both sides’ positions.  The three judges say they will pursue their civil rights to disagree with the publications and do not want to step back. One of them, Ulughbek Mahmadshoev, said he launched the lawsuit not as a member of the Supreme Court, but as an ordinary citizen.

The editors of Farazh (Khurshed Atovullo) and Ozodagon (Zafar Sufi), alongside Mamadshoev, reiterated their position, adding that there were at least two procedural mistakes made by the plaintiffs and the court:

First, the plaintiffs did not ask the newspapers to publish their rebuttal statement before going to the court as the Tajik Media Law requires; and second, the court did not ask the judges to pay the state duty of 0,5 % of the overall sum they require as moral damage. The court should not have been able to accept their claim without the payment.

Solidarity

About 50 journalists, and representatives of foreign embassies, international and human rights organizations, gathered in the court compound to show their support with the defendants.  Among them was the head of the National Association of Independent Media, Nuriddin Qarshiboev, who says the trial is already forcing journalists throughout the country to self-censor:

It is an easy way to intimidate the media now. It leads to a narrowing field of the journalistic freedom.

He also pointed out that unusual nature of this case.  Typically, authorities have not responded to many statements made by journalistic and rights activists.

The puppet master?

The lawyer Solehjon Juraev, the defendant whose letter is at the center of the trial, proposed once time a peaceful solution, asking the judges to pick up their claim.  He said his press-conference and the statement published by these three newspapers were not against the judges, but against the head of the Supreme Court, who is forcing the judges to make unlawful decisions.

Juarev added that he will continue his fight and promised to publish five more audio recordings in which Judge Nurov reveals how he was forced by Nusratullo Abdulloev, the head of the Supreme Court, to make wrong court decisions.  Initially, all three newspapers published a transcript of the phone conversation between Juraev and Nurov in which the latter openly confessed that the head of the Supreme Court forced him to give long-term jail sentences to 33 businessmen of the Isfara district of Tajikistan.

It is not clear if the threats of Juraev might have any impact on plaintiffs.  However, some observers believe that he has presented them with an opportunity to find a good excuse to back out from the lawsuit, or at least to protect their own reputations.