New York, November 8, 2002—Three journalists in Tajikistan
have been conscripted into military service in retaliation for producing
a talk show that criticized local military officials, according to
local and international reports.
The program, which aired on October 24 and 27, was produced by journalists
from the local, independent television stations SM-1 and TRK-Asia
in the northern city of Khujand and reported that the military uses
gangs to forcibly recruit young men into military service. During
the show, senior military officer Faziliddin Domonov denied the use
of such aggressive tactics, the New Yorkbased Eurasianet Web site
reported.
The program reportedly enraged Domonov, who called the station on
October 25 and threatened to conscript the journalists.
On October 28, four military officials burst into the SM-1 and TRK-Asia
offices and arrested nine journalists who had produced and participated
in the talk show. While the journalists were in detention, officials
told them "you don't know who you're dealing with," and "we'll show
you how to present us on television," the Moscow-based press freedom
group Center for Journalism in Extreme Situations reported.
Six journalists were eventually released, but three were conscripted
and remain in military custody: Yusuf Yunusov, a 21-year-old with
TRK-Asia, and Akram Azizov, 21, and Nasim Rahimov, 20, both of SM-1.
In addition, on the evening of November 5, a military officer called
SM-1 director Mahmaoudjan Dadabaev and threatened to kill him and
close his station, the Tajikistan office of the U.S. media training
organization Internews reported.
