“EVERY COUNTRY HAS ITS RULES.” Notes by the journalist of the NIAT Khovar regarding the letter from the head of Radio Ozodi to the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Tajikistan
According to media and social networks, the president of Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty Jamie Fly states:
“Tajik authorities continue to disrespect Radio Ozodi’s independence and try to interfere with his work.” He writes about this in his letter published on January 21 this year, a copy of which was also sent to the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Tajikistan Sirojiddin Mukhriddin.
For reasons of pluralism of opinions, the views of the editor of the English news service NIAT “Khovar” Shoguny SOBIR on this subject are offered to the attention of readers.
Given that the government is trying to reduce the panic about the virus, and Radio Ozodi is trying the opposite, it would be fair to say that the words Fly may well refer to the news feed itself, which seems to be trying to interfere with the goals of the government, independence and security of the country.
“A pandemic can threaten a country’s public health and national security,” he says. The key word here is “can.” Many scenarios “may” be possible. Given that no cases of coronavirus have been registered so far, and this was officially confirmed by the head of the WHO Office for Europe in Tajikistan, Ms. G. Perfilieva, in her interview with Tajik TViston, Radio Ozodi’s assumptions that are trying to cause panic are real harm .
The April 5 article on Radio Ozodi’s website about the death of a 60-year-old patient in the Jabbor hospital in the Rasulovsky District also confirms the fact that the correspondents of this Radio, spreading incomplete and unverified information, cause panic among the country’s population.
Jamie Fly in his letter, in particular, writes that “the incomplete accreditation of Radio Ozodi journalists demonstrates the insincerity of your government in providing journalists with the opportunity to work.”
However, on December 10 last year, Tajik Foreign Minister Sirojiddin Mukhriddin at a press conference in Brussels clearly and clearly answered questions about the difficulties in obtaining accreditation of Radio journalists. He drew attention to the security situation. “You know very well that we are bordering on Afghanistan, where many threats come from. You also know that during the short period of our independence we survived the civil war, there are many other factors that threaten security and stability in the country. Therefore, the role of the media in the republic is very important, and journalists and media representatives should carry out their activities within the framework of existing national legislation, ”the Tajik Foreign Minister continued.
“In October, we extended accreditation to seven journalists and technical staff of Radio Ozodi. Why did it take time? Because the situation in the country is like that. Each country has its own rules, ”said Sirojiddin Mukhriddin.
Foreigners or foreign media representatives while in the United States strictly abide by the rules and laws of the United States and operate in accordance with the laws of that country. Everyone is equal before the law in the USA, and American representatives always say this with pride. It turns out that in the course of their activities in Tajikistan, Ozodi journalists ignore the laws of the host country.
It would be more appropriate for Radio Ozodi to turn its supposed “critical role” from creating the illusion that developing countries need guidance from the “big brother” – that is, developed countries and their news agencies, to the other side. The head of a media corporation, even a great power, should not dictate his rules to the head of the Foreign Ministry of an independent country. “Each country has its own rules.”
It would be more efficient to use your time and address the problems of your home country.
Avoiding the coronavirus, Fly turns to the Islamic Renaissance Party (banned in Tajikistan), saying that Radio Ozodi will continue to “give them voice and attention, because the definition of PIV as a terrorist group“ is contrary to international consensus. ”
However, it is worth noting that not all terrorist groups that are on some lists of terrorist organizations have a designation or correspond to international consensus.
Let’s see what a list of terrorist organizations is. Such a list includes those organizations that are recognized as terrorist by at least one state or international organization by inclusion in the list of terrorist organizations formed in accordance with the regulatory legal acts of the given state or organization. It should be borne in mind that many organizations recognized as terrorist by some states deny the use of terrorism tactics to achieve their goals. In addition, there is no single, universally accepted definition of the concept of “terrorism” in international practice. There are over 200 definitions of terrorism.
I, as a person, more than 20 years
living in the United States, I can cite as an example a local group in the United States, which for more than a century has committed atrocities aimed at provoking a state of terror among the population, especially among the African American community, stoning, lynching and hanging blacks in their yard , sometimes burning them in their yards, especially until the 1970s. The Ku Klux Klan (KKK) was formed in the 1860s and is the largest and most brutal domestic terrorist organization the United States has ever known.
The group did not bear the designation “terrorist” by the international community at that time or now. Curious to see how objective Fly would be if he interviewed the head of the Clan, and would he be ready to give the group the media attention that he leads? Would he be just as sympathetic, simply because the group does not bear the designation “terrorist” by international consensus? Especially considering that the Clan is also an “element of life [USA]”.
Radio Ozodi really seeks to “play a decisive role”, but contrary to his self-derogatory assumptions, it is not needed at all. As many channels show, the same YouTube with a much larger number of subscribers than Radio Ozodi – their figures are from sensations and shocking the public, and not from attempts to bring real benefits to society, both for foreign and for their own.
Shoguna SOBIR,
editor of the English news service NIAT “Khovar”
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