Anger at forced conscription of journalists

An international organisation working for press freedom in Tajikistan, Internews, has protested the arrest and forced conscription of nine TV journalists in the northern Tajik city of Khujand a week ago.

Six of the nine journalists arrested were subsequently released, but three were reportedly forcefully recruited into the military. Internews is hoping diplomatic and legal measures will help get the journalists freed.

The journalists, from the independent TRK-Asia and SM-1 TV stations in Khujand, were arrested after taking part in an Internews TV talk show production training workshop in the city late last month.

According to TRK staff, the reason for the arrests was a recent TRK story on the high-handed methods authorities use when recruiting youngsters to the military. The story carried details of the alleged "press-ganging" of young people in public places, the independent Asia-Plus news service reported.

"With the opening of the Asia-Plus radio channel, the government gave us a signal that things were improving. However, the incident in Khujand gave us a signal that what is happening is not fine," Roshan Khadivi, country director of Internews, told IRIN on Monday in the capital, Dushanbe. "They [the government] are really damaging press freedom."

Khadivi added that the global media watchdog organisations, the Committee to Protect Journalists and Journalists Sans Frontiers [journalists without borders] have been alerted and their reaction is expected soon.