Sham trial in Tajikistan: Paik editor Ahmad Ibrohim sentenced to ten years in prison
A thorn in the authorities’ sides due to his investigations into sensitive issues, the editor-in-chief of the last independent media outlet in Khatlon — a province in south-western Tajikistan — was sentenced to ten years' imprisonment on 10 January after a closed-door trial. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) condemns using the judicial system to silence dissenting voices and calls for the immediate release of Ahmad Ibrohim and the seven other journalists imprisoned in the country.
“The arbitrary sentencing of Ahmad Ibrohim to ten years in prison is a death sentence for independent journalism in Khatlon, one of Tajikistan's four provinces. This sentence — the result of an opaque trial with no right to defence — is yet another display of the Tajik authorities’ determination to muzzle the last bastions of the independent press. RSF calls for the immediate release of Ahmad Ibrohim and the other journalists imprisoned in Tajikistan.
Ahmad Ibrohim, the editor-in-chief of the regional newspaper Paik who has been detained since 12 August 2024, denies the charges of “corruption,” “extortion,” and “extremism.” In December, the 63-year-old journalist sent a letter disputing the accusations to Rustam Emomali, who is the mayor of the capital city Dushanbe, president of the National Assembly, and the president’s son. In the letter, he recalled his lifelong commitment to fighting extremism, and deplored his lack of access to a lawyer and the authorities' use of photos of his family and his personal correspondence against him.
Denied a defence, Ahmad Ibrohim’s letter also claimed that none of the 13 witnesses called by the prosecution appeared at the trial, which was held behind closed doors, according to Radio Ozodi, the Tajik-language service of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL). According to the authorities, Ahmad Ibrohim offered a bribe to a member of the national security service, yet one of Radio Ozodi's sources claims that the agent tricked Ahmad Ibrohim by demanding the equivalent of 250 USD for the renewal of his newspaper's licence.
Founded in 2012, Paik was the last independent media outlet in the region and has been closed since its editor-in-chief was arrested. The outlet was regularly subjected to pressure and fines due to its articles, which frequently exposed the authorities’ inaction, such as their passivity in the face of deplorable sanitary conditions in kindergartens.
A wave of repression
Since 2022, at least six other journalists have been arrested and sentenced to long prison terms in Tajikistan, in what is one of the most serious crackdowns on the press since the civil war (May 1992 - June 1997). As in the case of Ahmad Ibrohim, their trials have been marred by flagrant irregularities, and the charges brought against them are pretexts to justify silencing them.
