Newsroom
OSCE organizes high-level media events to celebrate 2004 World Press Freedom Day in Tajikistan
DUSHANBE 5 May 2004
DUSHANBE, 5 May 2004 - A variety of events highlighting the importance of freedom of the media marked this year's celebrations of World Press Freedom Day on 3 May in Tajikistan.
The celebrations, which began on 1 May with the unveiling of a memorial stone for Maqsud Khuseinev, a prominent Tajik journalist who died in custody during the 1992 to 1997 civil war, ended on 4 May with a high-profile media roundtable organized by the OSCE Centre in Dushanbe, the Institute for War and Peace Reporting (IWPR) and the Open Society Institute (OSI) in Tajikistan.
The event brought together 45 participants including key editors of the Tajik and executives of independent and state-owned media outlets as well as the President of the Parliament's Committee on Media issues, Usmon Nazir, and the Vice-Minister of Culture and Information, Ibrahim Usmonov. The discussions were lead by Alexey Simonov, a prominent press freedom defender and head of the Glasnost Foundation, and focused on the political, legal and economic environment creating obstacles for media freedom in Tajikistan today.
"Progress was made in terms of pluralism, in the sense that new independent media were created in the past years", said Ambassador Yves Bargain, Head of the OSCE Centre. "Yet, critical media are affected by 'structural censorship' mechanisms, based on the control governmental structures have on printing facilities, on the distribution system, and on the attribution of licenses."
Ambassador Bargain also stressed the need to modernize Tajik media laws to foster the development of a free press in Tajikistan, especially in the perspective of the 2005 elections. Libel laws were the main issue debated by the participants, given that a number of Tajik journalists are currently prosecuted for this offence.
On 3 May, an award-giving ceremony was held in Dushanbe for the winners of two journalist competitions, which had been held by the OSCE Centre, the United Nations Tajikistan Office of Peace-building, IWPR and the OSI.
Some 20 Tajik journalists and media outlets were awarded for the best articles and programmes focusing on freedom of speech, participatory citizenship, democratization and human rights. A special award for the courage displayed by their reporting was given to the editors of the independent newspaper, Ruzi Nav (New Day), which was established only last year.
The celebrations, which began on 1 May with the unveiling of a memorial stone for Maqsud Khuseinev, a prominent Tajik journalist who died in custody during the 1992 to 1997 civil war, ended on 4 May with a high-profile media roundtable organized by the OSCE Centre in Dushanbe, the Institute for War and Peace Reporting (IWPR) and the Open Society Institute (OSI) in Tajikistan.
The event brought together 45 participants including key editors of the Tajik and executives of independent and state-owned media outlets as well as the President of the Parliament's Committee on Media issues, Usmon Nazir, and the Vice-Minister of Culture and Information, Ibrahim Usmonov. The discussions were lead by Alexey Simonov, a prominent press freedom defender and head of the Glasnost Foundation, and focused on the political, legal and economic environment creating obstacles for media freedom in Tajikistan today.
"Progress was made in terms of pluralism, in the sense that new independent media were created in the past years", said Ambassador Yves Bargain, Head of the OSCE Centre. "Yet, critical media are affected by 'structural censorship' mechanisms, based on the control governmental structures have on printing facilities, on the distribution system, and on the attribution of licenses."
Ambassador Bargain also stressed the need to modernize Tajik media laws to foster the development of a free press in Tajikistan, especially in the perspective of the 2005 elections. Libel laws were the main issue debated by the participants, given that a number of Tajik journalists are currently prosecuted for this offence.
On 3 May, an award-giving ceremony was held in Dushanbe for the winners of two journalist competitions, which had been held by the OSCE Centre, the United Nations Tajikistan Office of Peace-building, IWPR and the OSI.
Some 20 Tajik journalists and media outlets were awarded for the best articles and programmes focusing on freedom of speech, participatory citizenship, democratization and human rights. A special award for the courage displayed by their reporting was given to the editors of the independent newspaper, Ruzi Nav (New Day), which was established only last year.