DUSHANBE, February 14, 2014, Asia-Plus – Attacks on the Press , a report released by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) on February 12, notes that though a new media bill was signed into law, the legislation failed to decriminalize insulting the president or alleviate other repressive measures, and had no immediate effect on the climate of press freedom ahead of the November presidential vote.

To pave the way for a smooth re-election of Emomali Rahmon to a fourth term in office, authorities continued to gag critical voices by using a set of repressive tactics: intimidation of journalists by security services, denial of accreditation, and exhaustive litigation (local and international press reported that the Ismoil Somoni district court in Dushanbe in February 2013 ordered the independent newspaper Imrouz News to pay 50,000 somoni (US$10,500) in damages in a libel case filed by the son of a high-ranking government official.  The court also ordered the paper to publicly apologize to the plaintiff), the report says.

The state communications agency ordered Internet service providers to block access to news websites and social networking sites, including Facebook and YouTube. Two independent regional broadcasters accused the authorities of jamming their satellite signal at least three times during the year.

In November, Rahmon was declared a winner of another seven-year term in office; his rival quit the race, citing obstruction by the elections commission, the report noted.

Founded in 1981, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is an American independent nonprofit organization, based in New York City, New York.  It promotes press freedom and defends the rights of journalists.  The American Journalism Review has called the organization “Journalism''s Red Cross.”  The organization is a founding member of the International Freedom of Expression Exchange (IFEX), a global network of more than seventy non-governmental organizations that monitors free-expression violations around the world and defends journalists, writers, and others persecuted for exercising their right to freedom of expression.