DUSHANBE, November 25, 2015, Asia-Plus -- Tajikistan’s lower house (Majlisi Namoyandagon) of parliament has endorsed the bill seeking amendments to the country’s law on countering terrorism.

A regular sitting of the second session of the Majlisi Namoyandagon of the fifth convocation, presided over by its head, Shukurjon Zuhurov, was held on November 25.

“Under bill, which was worked out by the government, the State Committee for National Security (SCNS) has the right to restrict access to electronic media in areas, where counterterrorism operations are being carried out,” MP Khairullo Sufiyev said.    

 In an X-hour, access to Internet and mobile communications may be restricted not only in separate regions of the country but also across the whole country.

During the discussion of the bill, Majlisi Namoyandagon Speaker Shukurjon Zuhurov, in particular, noted that supporters of the mutinous general Abduhalim Nazarzoda had been actively using mobile communications and Internet while masterminding a plot in early September this year.

Today, anyone may buy a cell phone or a SIM card in Dushanbe without showing identification documents, Tajik parliament speaker said.

“It is time to put a stop to it,” Zuhurov stated, adding that the government and the parliament are working out a number of bills to regulate the electronic communication problems.

Parliamentarians endorsed the bill by majority of votes.

We will recall that during the violent events in the Rasht Valley in August-September 2010 and in the Gorno Badakhshan Autonomous Region (GBAO) in July-August 2012, the authorities restricted access to a number of news websites without clarification of reasons.