DUSHANBE, July 19, 2013, Asia-Plus – A lawyer from Sughd province, Ms. Fayziniso Vohidova, must pay a 30,000 somoni (TJS) compensation to Tojiron Company for moral damages caused by an article published in the Imrouz News (News Today) newspaper.

The Dushanbe Economic Court that considered the case, pitting Tojiron Company against Imrouz News and Ms. Fayziniso Vohidova, ruled on July 19 that Ms. Vohidova must pay TJS 30,000 compensation to Tojiron.  

We will recall that Tojiron Company filed a libel lawsuit against Imrouz News and Ms. Fayziniso Vohidova in late February, asking for 1.00 somoni from the newspaper and 50,000 somoni from Ms. Fayziniso Vohidova as compensation for moral damage that was caused by an article published by the newspaper.

The lawsuit stemmed from an article “Murdafurushi dar Shirkati Tojiron” that was published in the newspaper on January 17. The article was about a fatal traffic accident, involving one of Tojiron’s gasoline tankers, which took place on the Dushanbe-Khujand highway.

Imrouz News noted that they published a disclaimer 15 days after the article was published.

On March 29, a judge at the Dushanbe Economic Court offered Tojiron Company and Ms. Fayziniso Vohidova to come to an amicable agreement, but Inoyat Inoyatov, who represented Tojiron Company in the trial, refused the amicable agreement.

On April 19, Ms. Fayziniso Vohidova filed the counterclaim against Tojiron Company for 100,000 somoni in damages.  According to her, she filed the counterclaim against the company, asking for 100,000 somoni as compensation for moral damages that were caused by an article published by Tojiron on January 30.  “In this article, the company casts doubt on my professionalism,” the lawyer said.

The Dushanbe Economic Court threw down the counterclaim filed by Ms. Fayziniso Vohidova and the Appeals Board of Tajikistan Higher Economic Court on July 1 upheld the Dushanbe Economic Court’s verdict over Ms. Vohidova’s counterclaim.  Ms. Vohidova denounced the ruling and vowed to appeal to international judicial bodies.