CPJ calls on Tajik authorities to stop the persecution of Azda TV journalists

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has called on the authorities of Tajikistan to “stop the harassment of family members of journalists from the independent media Azda TV and allow exiled journalists to work without fear of repression.”

The corresponding statement was published on the organization’s website on May 24, 2024.

The director and editor-in-chief of Azda TV, Mukhamadzhon Kabirov, informed CPJ in a phone conversation that since the end of last year, law enforcement agencies in Tajikistan have repeatedly summoned, interrogated, and threatened the relatives of five Azda TV journalists in connection with their professional activities. Kabirov reported that the harassment of journalists’ family members has been ongoing for several years, but has intensified in recent months, as noted in the statement.

In addition, four Azda TV journalists are listed among the wanted individuals by the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia, as published by Russian media earlier this year.

In February of this year, the independent Russian portal “Mediazona” collected all wanted cards from the database on the Ministry of Internal Affairs’ website, combined them into a single database, and published them. According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, the list of wanted individuals includes the names of several Tajik journalists, including Azda TV journalists Kabirov, Rahmatullo, Nizomov, and Magzumzoda, journalists from the news portal Payom Sharifov, Abdumanon Sheraliyev, Takhmina Bobokhonova, and Soima Saidova, founder of Isloh TV Mukhamadikbol Sadriddinov (Sadurdinov), as well as independent journalist and activist Temur Varki (Kilychev) and Badakhshan journalists Anora Sarkorova and Rustam Joni (Jonieva).

Kabirov told the Committee to Protect Journalists that “there is no doubt that the Russian authorities have put them on the wanted list at the request of the Tajik authorities.”

International human rights organizations regularly criticize Tajikistan as a country that most frequently resorts to the use of transnational repression – suppressing dissent abroad through various methods, including false accusations of murder, extradition requests, and intimidation of family members. CPJ has repeatedly documented how Tajik authorities harass the relatives of journalists in exile in retaliation for their professional activities.

The Committee to Protect Journalists previously reported that Tajik law enforcement agencies have harassed the relatives of exiled journalists Khumayro Bakhtiyor, Mirzo Salimpur, and Anora Sarkorova. Last year, Russian authorities extradited Shavkatjon Sharifov’s brother, director of the news agency Payom TV, to Tajikistan. Upon arrival in Tajikistan, the security services detained his brother immediately on false charges of extremism.

“Tajikistan continues to uphold its grim reputation as a country that most frequently resorts to the brutal use of transnational repression. Forcing dozens of journalists to leave the country, the authorities continue to pursue and pressure them by targeting their relatives. No journalist should suffer from the awareness that they are putting their loved ones at risk,” said Gulnoza Said, program coordinator for the Committee to Protect Journalists in Europe and Central Asia.

The coordinator of the Committee to Protect Journalists emphasized that the authorities in Tajikistan must end this horrifying practice of transnational punishment.

“Exiled journalists play a crucial role in disseminating independent news and countering Russian propaganda in Tajikistan, and Western governments and journalistic organizations must support them,” she noted.

Kabirov told CPJ that Tajik police and prosecutors had summoned his father, father-in-law, and mother-in-law dozens of times in recent months, pressuring them to convince Kabirov to cease his professional journalistic activities and to persuade him and his wife to return to Tajikistan. Kabirov’s 72-year-old father-in-law died of a heart attack the day after one of these repeated interrogations.

The law enforcement agencies of Tajikistan have also targeted the relatives of Azda TV hosts Firuz Khait, Shukhrat Rahmatullo, Amrullo Nizomov, and Mahmadsharif Magzumzoda.

Amrullo Nizomov told CPJ that in September of last year, the police detained two of his brothers, held them in custody for a week, beat them, and interrogated them. He is convinced that this is related to his work at Azda TV and his criticism on social media.

Kabirov informed CPJ that the harassment of journalists’ family members peaked in connection with Azda TV’s coverage of Tajik President Emomali Rahmon’s visits to Europe in September and April 2024. This was accompanied by a broader wave of pressure on the relatives of Tajik activists in Europe.

Azda TV was founded in 2019. The outlet publishes content on YouTube, where it has nearly 180,000 subscribers on Tajik and Russian-language channels, featuring a popular daily news show. The outlet’s website is blocked in Tajikistan.

Although the outlet itself is not recognized as “extremist” in Tajikistan, in 2022, journalist Abdullo Gurbati was sentenced to seven and a half years in prison. Among other charges, he was accused of subscribing to the Azda TV YouTube channel, claiming that the channel is linked to “extremist and terrorist” opposition groups.

Several employees of Azda TV left Tajikistan along with dozens of journalists between 2015 and 2017 amid the repression that followed the ban of the main opposition party, the Islamic Renaissance Party of Tajikistan (IRPT).

The statement from the Committee to Protect Journalists notes that the organization sent a letter to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the General Prosecutor’s Office of Tajikistan requesting a comment on the situation, but received no responses.