Detained and convicted journalists in Tajikistan in 2022

In 2022, the main news in Tajikistan and abroad was the detention and sentencing of several Tajik journalists and bloggers. To date, seven, and according to some reports, eight Tajik journalists and bloggers have been detained and sentenced to long prison terms in the country. Among those detained and sentenced over the year were Ulfatkhonim Mamadshoeva, Khushruz Jumayev, Mukhamadi Sultan, Daleri Imomali, Abdullo Gurbati, Zavkibek Saidamini, Abdusat tor Pirmukhammadzoda, and Komchek Mirzoev.

Ulfatkhonim Mamadshoeva is a well-known journalist and civil activist. She previously taught journalism at the Russian-Tajik Slavic University in Dushanbe. Being well acquainted with the issues of her native region – the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region, she expressed her views on the problems in this area. Mamadshoeva also led the public organization “Law and Honor.”

In 2014, when unrest began in Khorog and after a military operation was conducted, the government started negotiations with the residents, and a commission was created in Khorog to negotiate with the authorities, which included Ulfatkhonim Mamadshoeva. The activist was detained in May 2022. During the trial, the prosecutor requested 24 years of imprisonment for her. In early December, the Supreme Court of Tajikistan sentenced the activist to 21 years in prison. The trial was held behind closed doors.

Khushruz Jumayev is a blogger promoting Pamiri culture and history. He distributed his materials on his YouTube channel. The blogger wrote and spoke extensively about the history, languages, and culture of Pamir. After the protests in November, he moved from Dushanbe to GBAO and began assisting members of the “Commission 44.”

Khushruz Jumayev, also known by the pseudonym Khushom Gul, was born on January 1, 1998. He lived in the capital, Dushanbe. He was first reported in the press when he was detained but was later released. Khushom was detained on March 20, 2022, around 1:00 PM in the city of Khorog. On May 20, 2022, it was reported that officers from the Organized Crime Control Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Tajikistan detained Khushruz Jumayev on May 19, 2022, in Dushanbe. It became known that this was his second detention. According to his relatives, after Khushom Gul was detained the first time, he was sent to Dushanbe for his safety, but this time law enforcement detained him in the capital.

Mukhamadi Sultan is a Tajik journalist who was detained and sentenced to 7 years in prison following events in the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region. The court’s verdict was issued on September 13, 2022. The 72-year-old Mukhamadsulton Mavlonazarov, known as Mukhamadi Sultan, was an employee of the youth newspaper “Komsomoli Tochikiston” (“Komsomolets of Tajikistan”) in the 1970s, and later, according to him, served in the KGB of Tajikistan, where he rose to the rank of colonel. He worked in the KGB for over 25 years. In recent years, Mukhamadi Sultan published posts on Facebook, in which he criticized the leadership of the State National Security Committee of Tajikistan, as well as the authorities of Central Asia. The Sino District Court of Dushanbe found Mukhamadi Sultan guilty under Article 307 part 2 (public calls for violent change of the constitutional order using mass media or the internet) and Article 330 part 2 (insulting a representative of authority in mass media or the internet) of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Tajikistan.

The detention of Daleri Imomali became the most high-profile case in Tajikistan in recent years. Daleri Imomali was born on July 28, 1988. He is known as a director, cameraman, journalist, and presenter. He graduated from the Didor Home Theater School, the School of Young Filmmakers at the State Film Studio “Tajikfilm,” and the State Institute of Culture and Arts of Tajikistan named after Mirzo Tursunzade. For some time, Daler worked as a newsreader on “Vatan” radio and hosted a special program “Press Club.” He also worked at “Imruz” radio.

Recently, Daleri Imomali was engaged in blogging. Together with Abdullo Gurbati, they mainly published materials on social issues. One of his reports was about Bega Sabur, the owner of the construction company “Komil-2010,” head of the Communications Service under the government, and the brother-in-law of President Emomali Rahmon. Another report discussed injustices in the distribution of land plots for house construction in the Shohmansur district of Dushanbe, as well as how the reception day of the head of this district was conducted.

The journalist was arrested on June 15, 2022. The court found him guilty of providing knowingly false information about a crime, illegal entrepreneurship, and participating in the activities of the banned organization “Group 24.” On October 17, 2022, the court sentenced him to 10 years in prison. He and his supporters called the verdict unjustified.

Avazmad Gurbatov, known by the pseudonym Abdullo Gurbati, was one of the young and most promising representatives of Tajik journalism. He graduated from the Faculty of Journalism of Kulob State University named after Abuabdullo Rudaki. Before his detention, he worked in various publications, including the weekly “Paik,” the Center for Investigative Journalism of Tajikistan, the weekly “Faraj,” and the news agency “Asia-Plus.” He mainly raised acute social issues. He was also active on social media and expressed his opinion on various matters.

Abdullo was beaten twice by “unknown individuals,” in one case the perpetrators were not found, and in the second case, several people were found guilty of petty hooliganism and paid off with minor fines. Recently, Abdullo was taking photographs, filming, and producing short films that won awards at domestic and international competitions and film festivals. The Shohmansur District Court of Dushanbe found Abdullo Gurbati guilty under Article 328 part 1 (use of violence against a representative of authority), Article 330 part 1 (insulting a representative of authority), and part 2 of Article 307 (3) part 2 (organizing the activities of an extremist organization) of the Criminal Code of Tajikistan and sentenced him to a total of 7.5 years in prison.

Abdullo Gurbati was in a pre-trial detention center when his film received an award at an international festival in Kazakhstan. The documentary film “Too Big” by Abdullo Gurbati won an award at the Seventh International Film Festival in Almaty. The work was named the best documentary film among 17 submissions. The film tells the story of 13-year-old Abdurakhmon, who, due to his family’s difficult financial situation, cannot attend school. He is forced to transport goods on hand carts. The hero of the film, Abdullo Gurbati, wants to study like his peers, but a hard life has deprived him of this opportunity.

Zavkibek Saidamini was born in 1983. He graduated from Tajik National University with a degree in journalism and translation. Zavkibek Saidamini worked for many years in independent publications and on the First Channel of Tajik State Television. He also worked at “Imruz News” and “Tajikistan Television.”

In 2020, Zavkibek Saidamini ran for parliament in the elections for the lower house of the Tajik parliament. However, the electoral commission denied him registration, citing alleged forgery. Zavkibek Saidamini was also active on social media on pressing issues in Tajikistan. He was particularly interested in religious, cultural, and social problems, which led to his dismissal from the television station. After leaving television, he engaged in entrepreneurship. He also began working as a crane operator and continued his blogging activities.

After the detention of Abdullo Gurbati and Daleri Imomali, Zavkibek Saidamini and Abdusat tor Pirmukhammadzoda were among the few journalists who spoke out in support of the detained journalists. On July 8, 2022, Zavkibek Saidamini was also detained. On November 3 of that year, the Ismoili Somoni District Court of Dushanbe sentenced Zavkibek to 7 years in prison. The court found him guilty of collaborating with the Islamic Renaissance Party of Tajikistan and “Group 24.” The leadership of these organizations, as well as Saidamini himself, denied these accusations. However, the court ignored them.

Abdusat tor Pirmukhammadzoda is another convicted journalist. Abdusat tor Pirmukhammadzoda graduated from the Faculty of Philology of Tajik National University. He was already a well-known journalist when he worked at “Sadoi Dushanbe” radio.

After the parliamentary elections in 2010, Tajik law enforcement agencies began to persecute opposition political forces and dissenting journalists. In 2020, on President’s Day, Pirmukhammadzoda stated in his video address to the country’s president Emomali Rahmon, the chairman of the parliament Rustam Emomali, and the head of the presidential executive office Ozoda Rahmon, that it was after those events that he lost his job. After leaving the radio station, he engaged in passenger transportation and blogging.

Tajik law enforcement agencies accused him of collaborating with banned organizations. Later, a criminal case was initiated against Pirmukhammadzoda under Article 307 note 3 part 2. The well-known blogger stated in a letter from the pre-trial detention center about torture and psychological pressure during the investigation.

“Eight to ten days of torture, complete isolation, threats and insults directed at my family forced me to take on a crime I did not commit. Under physical pressure, I read on camera a text prepared by the officers of the Organized Crime Control Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Tajikistan about allegedly constant contact with the opposition leader Mukiddin Kabiri and preparing a revolution in Tajikistan together with him,” he wrote.

Komchek Mirzoev, a blogger and activist, a native of the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region, was sentenced to 10 years in prison. It is reported that during the coronavirus pandemic, Komchek Mirzoev, who at that time was volunteering to help the population and doctors in Khorog, along with Maksud Gayo s raised the issue of the deplorable condition of the Khorog hospital, where there was only one refrigerator for all patients. After the publication of photographs, residents of Badakhshan organized a fundraising campaign for this hospital.

Komchek Mirzoev criticized existing shortcomings in Badakhshan on his social media pages and supported the demands of protesters in Khorog in November 2021.

After the protests in Badakhshan were suppressed and dozens of informal leaders, activists, journalists, and bloggers from this region were detained, Komchek Mirzoev ceased his activity on social media. His last post – a video of reading a religious poem – was published on his Facebook page in early July.

As reported by the “Bomdod” portal, Komchek Mirzoev received an SMS from Tajik law enforcement agencies before his detention, demanding that he voluntarily appear at the authorities and answer their questions. Otherwise, the warning stated, he would be forcibly taken to Tajikistan. Sources from “Bomdod” reported that at least 5 representatives of the creative intelligentsia of GBAO (bloggers, journalists, artists) who actively expressed their position on social media received such SMS. Most of them are in Russia.

Experts familiar with the situation believe that the repression against journalists, which began after the political opposition was suppressed, imprisoned, and fled, will continue until power transitions to Rustam Emomali.

The main question is why exactly these journalists were sent to prison in such a harsh manner? Did they really commit the crimes they were accused of by the authorities? Despite the fact that the journalists themselves denied the charges against them, the authorities unjustly imprisoned them without any evidence. It is clear as day to the journalists, the people, and even to Emomali Rahmon and his team that all the charges brought against the journalists are fabrications and outright slander. Here, only brute force rules. The only reason is that Rahmon and his team did not like the words of Daleri Imomali, Gurbati, Ulfatkhonim, and others, and no one can deny this.

Rahmon, to no longer hear their truthful words, sent them to prison for many years. If this is not the case, tell me fairly, was Daleri Imomali’s “entrepreneurial activity” as illegal as the entrepreneurial activity and fraud of Shahboz Rajabzoda, the former head of customs terminal No. 1 in Dushanbe, whom Emomali Rahmon publicly reprimanded and dismissed?

Did Daleri Imomali steal money from the state and the people, as he did? Why was the official forgiven for being “young,” and his thefts and frauds overlooked? Are Daleri Imomali and Abdullo Gurbati not young? Did these journalists steal anything? Even schoolchildren know the answers to these questions.

Another important point was that international organizations, journalist protection organizations, and human rights organizations condemned the detention of journalists. After the detention of each journalist in Tajikistan, organizations like Freedom House, the Committee to Protect Journalists, and several others condemned the authorities’ actions and repeatedly called for the immediate release of Tajik journalists who were sentenced merely for doing their job.

In this regard, the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders, Mary Lawlor, during her official visit to Tajikistan, noted that the situation regarding human rights, human rights defenders, and journalists has worsened.

She also urged the government not to obstruct the activities of journalists and lawyers and to cease their detention. She demanded a fair investigation into the convicted journalists and human rights defenders and an open trial with the participation of representatives of the international community. However, the government of Tajikistan has never responded positively to the demands of international organizations, even the UN.

This is not the first case where Tajik law enforcement agencies detain and imprison journalists. Previously, journalist Mahmadali Khait was sentenced to life imprisonment, and Rahmatullo Rajab, Abdukakhori Davlat, Hikmatullo Saifullozoda, and others were sentenced to long prison terms. In conclusion, it should be noted that in general, every dissenter and truth-teller is considered a significant threat to the government of Tajikistan, and that is why Tajik law enforcement agencies remove journalists, politicians, and dissenters from the political arena to feel free.