Tajikistan jails editor-in-chief of independent publication for 10 years on “trumped-up” charges

By bne IntelliNews January 11, 2025

The editor-in-chief of Paik, the only independent publication in Tajikistan’s southwestern Khatlon region, has been sentenced to 10 years in prison, Radio Ozodi reported on January 10.

Relatives described the sentence handed down by Kulob City Court to Ahmadi Ibrahim, 63, as “cruel”. It came after nearly six months of detention. Jeanne Cavelier, head of the Central Asia and Eastern Europe programme at rights watchdog Reporters Without Borders, has referred to the charges brought against the journalist as “trumped-up” and “fabricated”.

Ibrahim was charged with bribing an administrator of the State Committee for National Security, extortion and extremism.

In a December letter sent to Rustam Emomali—the Speaker of the National Assembly who is also the mayor of Dushanbe and eldest son of President Emomali Rahmon—Ibrahim said that he had no lawyer and that the authorities were using intimate family photos and personal correspondence against him.

"I have never bribed anyone in my life, but I am accused of bribery. I have not extorted money in my life, but I am accused of extortion. I have not been an extremist in my life, I have been fighting extremism for the past 22 years. How can I, a journalist and author of six novels about Zoroastrians, be a Salafi [Muslim]?" he wrote.

Since the arrest of Ibrahim, Paik has not been published.

#Tajikistan #Media #Repression #Rights

Read in IntelliNews Pro

Get IntelliNews Pro

Related Articles

Russia’s expulsions of migrants reportedly nearly double in 2024 to around 80,000

Russia in 2024 expelled more than 80,000 migrants for immigration rule violations, compared to 44,200 in 2023 and 26,600 in 2022, TASS reported on January 8. The Russian state news agency cited a ... more

World Bank must wake up to Rogun mega dam “nightmare” in Tajikistan, say activists ahead of financing vote

The World Bank has to realise that the Rogun mega project “dream of the biggest dam [in the world] will turn into a nightmare for the people and nature in Tajikistan and beyond” and that it ... more

Central Asian unified electricity trade platform will boost renewables, says Uzbek energy official

Central Asia is working to achieve a unified electricity trade platform to improve regional trade and meet the growing demand for renewable energy, according to Uzbekistan’s Deputy Minister for ... more

Dismiss

Chat with usLiveChat