Newsroom
OSCE Centre in Dushanbe concerned at shutdown of private printing house by tax authorities
DUSHANBE 25 August 2004
DUSHANBE, 25 August 2004 - The OSCE Centre in Dushanbe noted with concern the closure of the private printing house ''Jonkhon'' by the Tax Administration of Tajikistan. This closure was a result of the tax investigation into one of Jonkhon's customers, the "Nerui Suhan" newspaper.
Ambassador Yves Bargain, Head of the OSCE Centre in Dushanbe, said: "While the Centre supports the payment of required taxes, the closure made impossible the publication of several other newspapers using the services of this company last week, thereby hindering the development of freedom of the media in Tajikistan."
This situation, if it continues, he added, would clearly go against the development of freedom and pluralism of the media in Tajikistan, which is a key condition of democracy.
"The appearance of new publications during the last years was an encouraging signal in the field of freedom of media in Tajikistan. However, the repeated and varied difficulties met by some of them in their activity can be seen as a worrying backward step", said the Ambassador.
The Head of Centre hopes that efforts will be made to facilitate a quick reappearance of those papers which could not be printed last week and reiterates the importance of ensuring freedom and pluralism of the media in Tajikistan.
The OSCE Centre in Dushanbe has also forwarded this information to the Office of the Representative on Freedom of the Media for further action.
Ambassador Yves Bargain, Head of the OSCE Centre in Dushanbe, said: "While the Centre supports the payment of required taxes, the closure made impossible the publication of several other newspapers using the services of this company last week, thereby hindering the development of freedom of the media in Tajikistan."
This situation, if it continues, he added, would clearly go against the development of freedom and pluralism of the media in Tajikistan, which is a key condition of democracy.
"The appearance of new publications during the last years was an encouraging signal in the field of freedom of media in Tajikistan. However, the repeated and varied difficulties met by some of them in their activity can be seen as a worrying backward step", said the Ambassador.
The Head of Centre hopes that efforts will be made to facilitate a quick reappearance of those papers which could not be printed last week and reiterates the importance of ensuring freedom and pluralism of the media in Tajikistan.
The OSCE Centre in Dushanbe has also forwarded this information to the Office of the Representative on Freedom of the Media for further action.