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Hot News 2005 July 29 Court sentenced journalist Djumaboy Tolibov to 2 years in prison
On July 28, Dj. Tolibov received a 2 year prison sentence on charges of hooliganism (article 237, part 2, item g of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Tajikistan), illegally entering a residence (articles 147, part 2, items a and b of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Tajikistan), and abusing his office (article 316, part 3, item a). He will serve his term in a minimum security prison. Additionally the court ruling deprived him of the right to hold state offices within a year following the end of his term. Tolibov was arrested on 24 April, 2005, by Ministry of Internal Affairs’ officers in Dushanbe and taken to Aininsk district. According to Mamdashoyev, a NANSMIT monitoring reporter, “the court order is unjustified, partly due to the fact that several witnesses gave contradictory testimonies and some others just failed to appear in court.” The prosecution agreed on the court order, but the defence is going to appeal the decision to the higher court. In its turn, the journalist believes that he was arrested in retaliation for his materials criticizing Sobit Azamov, Aininsk district prosecutor, such as “Prosecutor's arbitrariness,” of 18 August 2004, “Who is backing the prosecutor?” of 10 November 2004, published in “Minbari Khalk” newspaper and “Who is going to protect us?” of 18 September 2004 in the parliamentary newspaper. Tolibov argued in the reports that, as secretary of the coordination council, he was ordered to request information from Azamov about the current crime rate and measures taken during the first six months of 2004 to prevent its growth. In response, the prosecutor reportedly insulted Tolibov and struck him while the journalist was in his office. Tolibov has filed complaints with the General Prosecutor's Office and the Soghdiy Procuracy, but no legal action has been taken against the prosecutor. It’s worth mentioning that Tajik journalists are facing an increasing pressure in recent time, within a short period of time 2 journalists Vahhobi Latif, “Nerui Sukhan” deputy editor received one year rehabilitation order and Tolibov was sentenced to 2 years in jail.
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