DUSHANBE, May 3, Asia-Plus - “I give mark “fair” to journalism in Tajikistan because Tajik journalists self-sensor their work,” Yusufjon Akhmedov, the member of the Majlisi Namoyandagon (Tajikistan’s lower chamber of parliament) Committee on International Affairs, Public Associations and Information, said in an interview with Asia-Plus.

MP noted that there are practically no any serious critical materials on topical issues in the country’s print media.  “The majority of materials are dull and not interesting,” Akhmedov said  

“For some reason journalists several years ago raised the problems of quality of telephone communications in the country and after that Tajikistan was almost the first among the CIS countries to shift to the digital communications and this is service of not only the communications minister or the government but also media,” said Akhmedov.  “That time, newspapers were also covering problems of markets in Tajikistan and many of them were improved.” 

“While at present, when over the past three months, we have had dirty tap water nobody writes about this and one may form the impression that journalists do not want to raise this and other acute problems facing our society,” the parliamentarian said. 

Akhmedov swept aside factors such as pressure on media as a reason journalists self-censor their work, saying, “Journalism is a struggle and if you are right should prove this.” 

In the meantime, according to the Foundation for Memory and Protection of the Rights of Journalists of Tajikistan, 78 journalists were killed in Tajikistan in the line of duty during the civil conflict in the country (1992-1997).