Photograph by Flickr user Bloomsberries (CC-usage).

Three judges, two of them members of the Supreme Court of Tajikistan, have conspired to punish three independent newspapers for publishing a sensational story about unlawful conviction practices at the courts.

Supreme Court judges Nur Nurov and Ulugbek Mamadshoev and a judge of the Dushanbe City Court Fakhriddin Dodometov filed separate lawsuits against the newspapers Asia-Plus, Faraj, and Ozodagon for publishing a letter by lawyer Solijona Juraev in which he accuses the very same judges of making biased court decisions and imposing illegal penalties.  Juraev is also being sued.  They are being collectively charged under articles 142 and 143 of the Civil Procedure Code for libel and humiliation of honor and dignity.

The plaintiffs complain that the letter was published without either verification of facts or balancing it by publishing an opposing opinion.  They are demanding moral damages payment in the amount of $1 million 260 000, an impossible sum beyond the ability of the Tajik independent media to pay, hence leading them to permanent closure. Not surprisingly, they are also insisting on suspending the papers until the end of the litigation.

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