DUSHANBE, July 16, 2015, Asia-Plus -- It seems that worst fears of independent media outlets that information market in the country will be monopolized have been confirmed.

Tajik President Emomali Rahmon on June 30 signed a protocol under which all government bodies should hand over information to the national news agency Khovar and other media outlets may use that information only with reference to Khovar .

The protocol says that these materials include information about government sessions, president’s working trips inside and outside the country, meetings and other international events both inside and outside the country.

We will recall that Tajik independent media outlets note that they have been faced with problems regarding coverage of activities of government bodies lately.  According to them, they now have problems with getting socially significant information from the government bodies.

Commenting on this situation, Nouriddin Qarshiboyev, the head of the National Association of Independent Media of Tajikistan (Nansmit), said “The country’s legislation provides equal rights to media outlets irrespective of their forms of property for getting information.”

“As far as I now, according to statute of Khovar , it has an exclusive right for dissemination of official information, including president’s decrees and government’s resolutions, by the statute of the national news agency does not predominate over laws that guarantee equal rights to all media outlets for getting information,” the media watchdog head stressed.