JAN. 15 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Tajik president Emomali Rakhmon signed a decree forcing all internet traffic into Tajikistan to pass through a single entry point controlled by state-run Tajiktelecom, media reported. The authorities in Tajikistan regularly turn off access to social media websites which they say are being used by Islamic radicals to infiltrate Tajik society.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 264, published on Jan. 22 2016)
JAN. 21 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Khadija Ismayilova, a high-profile imprisoned Azerbaijani journalist, said that she had appointed Amal Clooney, the wife of Hollywood star George Clooney, as her lawyer ahead of a hearing in the European Court of Human Rights linked to her conviction this year on economic-related charges. Ismayilova is looking to challenge her conviction through the European Court. Europe and the West have accused Azerbaijan of cracking down on free speech.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 264, published on Jan. 22 2016)
DEC. 28 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – A court in Azerbaijan sentenced journalist Rauf Mirkadirov to six years in prison for spying for Armenia. Mirkadirov denies the charges. His supporters said that the jail sentence is more evidence of Azerbaijan’s crackdown on dissent and free speech. Azerbaijan has jailed several journalists over the past few years.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 262, published on Jan. 8 2016)
DEC. 8 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kenes Rakishev, a well-connected businessman in Kazakhstan, said he is in talks to buy Sedmoi Kanal (Channel 7), a popular television channel focusing on education and entertainment. In July 2015, Channel 7 stopped broadcasting information and analytical programmes due to low market demand.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 260, published on Dec. 11 2015)
DEC. 8 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – The London correspondent of Kazakhstan’s state-owned Khabar TV station and its 24.kz website, Bela Kudaibergenova, resigned saying: “I just can’t lie any more”.
On a Facebook post, Ms Kudaibergenova, who has been in London for six years, said that she decided to quit when she was ordered to spin a dowdy event organised by the Kazakh embassy as a great success which showed the love that the British people have for Kazakhstan.
“That was it. I felt that enough was enough, and I could not do it anymore,” Ms Kudaibergenova told RFE/RL in an interview.
Free speech activists have previously criticised Kazakhstan for crack- downs and for using state-run media to sugar coat reality.
After Ms Kudaibergenova’s resignation, twitter and social media lit up with messages of support.
The reaction of the official media in Kazakhstan, though, was less ecstatic. The Khabar news channel said that a planned move from London had triggered her resignation.
“We never lie,” said Arman Seitmamyut, head of of Khabar TV.
“I personally demand that all our journalists double check all their work and the accuracy of everything.”
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 260, published on Dec. 11 2015)
NOV. 30 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Armenian hackers broke into the Azerbaijani Central Bank network and stole personal data from thousands of people, media reported. This is the second hacker attack on Azerbaijani state websites this year. In June, hackers stole thousands of people’s data from the Azerbaijani customs website.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 259, published on Dec. 4 2015)
NOV. 25 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Tajikistan’s parliament passed a law which will make it legal for the authorities to switch off the internet during counterterrorism operations. The Tajik authorities regularly block access to social media and news websites which they say promote Islamic extremism, irritating free speech campaigners.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 258, published on Nov. 27 2015)
NOV. 16 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — Swedish mobile operator TeliaSonera said that the authorities in Tajikistan had ordered it to block access to a series of social media sites, including Facebook, because of alleged security threats.
In an unusually candid note, TeliaSonera, which operates in Tajikistan under the Tcell brand, said it had complied with the order, given on Nov. 2, although it did cast some doubt on the motives behind it.
“Government’s requests or demands often serve legitimate purposes such as the protection of certain human rights, but they may also be problematic in that they could conflict with other human rights,” it said in a statement on its website. “TeliaSonera’s commitment is to respect freedom of expression in telecommunications.”
The authorities in Tajikistan often ban access to social media because they say radical Islamists have infiltrated it. Human rights groups, though, have accused the government of cracking down on free speech.
As well as blocking Facebook, the authorities also blocked the Russian websites odnoklassniki.ru and vk.ru.
TeliaSonera, which is looking to sell its businesses in Central Asia and the South Caucasus after a corruption scandal in Uzbekistan, said it doesn’t comment on domestic politics.
“However, TeliaSonera does engage in dialogue regarding requests from authorities that affect our business and customers of companies in which we have ownership interests,” it said.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 257, published on Nov. 20 2015)
NOV. 11 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – The social networking site LiveJournal will be available again in Kazakhstan, the government said. LiveJournal, which is popular in the former Soviet Union, was banned in August 2011 for “propagating terrorism and extremism.” Kazakhstan has been criticised for cracking down on free speech.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 256, published on Nov. 13 2015)
NOV. 12 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – A court in Tbilisi reinstated the former management of the Rustavi-2 TV station, the focus of an ownership tug-of-war between supporters of the ruling Georgian Dream coalition against supporters of the former government of the UNM party. Earlier this month a court handed control of the station to a pro-government businessman.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 256, published on Nov. 13 2015)