New media law signed in Tajikistan

Tajikistan’s President Emomalii Rahmon has signed a new press law into effect

The new law contains a number of positive features, including a proclamation of mass media freedom and a ban on censorship and persecution for criticism, according to independent Tajik news analyses.

Under the new law, all media outlets in Tajikistan will be registered as legal entities and public agencies will have to answer journalist inquiries within three days.

Officials to “answer to society”

Speaker of the National Assembly, the Tajik parliament’s upper chamber, Mahmadsaid Ubaidulloyev called on senators, heads of ministries and agencies as well as chairpersons of regions, cities and districts to thoroughly study the new media law.

“In the future, we will have to answer to society under the provisions of this law,” Ubaidulloyev said when the law was passed.

The law replaces the 1990 Law on Press and Other Mass Media which has been criticised repeatedly by local media and international organizations.

Aims to “further democratisation”

Mamadsho Ilolov, president of the academic society Academy of Sciences of Tajikistan, noted that the new media law was aimed at further democratisation of Tajikistan and to protect freedom of speech.

“Tajik media play an important role in the creation of public opinion, and in the protection of the people’s interests and national interests,” Ilolov noted.

The new law is the result of more than two years of work by a special working group comprising representatives of the parliament, the government, political parties and the journalism community.

IMS has worked in Tajikistan since the fall of 2011 focusing on improving the conditions of media through better access to information, increasing awareness of laws that work against media and strengthening investigative reporting.