Asia-Plus editor-in-chief suggests two possible causes of blockage.  

Our readers and colleagues wonder, “What for access to your website is blocked?  You do not pose antigovernment materials on your website.”

It is true, we do not have, or almost do not have, severe critical materials on our website.  Despite all difficulties, we try to collaborate with the authorities, actively cover activities of the head of state, the government, the parliament and the Dushanbe mayor’s office.  And we are ready to do this in the future as well.

So why do they block?

We do not know but we have suppositions.

Here is the first one.  We have refused several times to publish materials of some government bodies.  We refused because we respect our profession and our readers while those materials were far from journalism.  Coincidentally, after each refusal access to our website in Tajikistan was blocked. 

If there is really a link between our refusal to publish a material and blockage of our website, so Tajikistan may be the only county in the world, in which access to independent news websites is blocked not for what they publish but for refusal to publish.   

If it is true, it is a sad truth.  Firstly, because persons blocking access to our website go against the law.  And that is dangerous when the government body breaches the law itself.  

Secondly, such a practice violates international obligations assumed by Tajikistan.  

Blockage of the country’s most popular website, which is loyal to the government in general, is irrational from the point of view of state’s interests, frames the foreign ministry, the government, the head of state, our society, all those who try to raise image of Tajikistan as a responsible member of international community.  Who needs it? 

Asia-Plus staff members are law-abiding citizens of their country.  We want our children to live in rule-of-law state, and therefore, we ourselves try to observe laws.  If the authorities officially specify in the law what Tajik journalists should publish and what they should not do, we will observe this law.  We will work in accordance with officially accepted rules. Or we will shut down if we consider that these rules are contrary to our life and professional principles.  

Here is the second supposition.  Our website has become inaccessible in Tajikistan for technical reasons because malfunction occurred simultaneously in servers of all Internet service providers operating in the country.  If so, we expect that all “servers and cables” will be repaired soon and our website will become available again to residents of the country.  

By the way, despite all problems with access to its website, Asia-Plus remains the most visited information resource in Tajikistan.  We are proud of this – our audience remains with us, reads us.  We value their trust and do not want to lose it.  

Dear readers!

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