In a letter sent to Tajik Foreign Minister on October 31, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) President Jamie Fly criticized the ministry’s decision to withhold accreditation from some members of its Tajik Service and grant only partial accreditation to others, obstructing the organization’s journalistic mission inside the country.

“Instead of addressing our concerns, your ministry responded to our repeated requests to accredit our journalists only yesterday, and with only partial approvals that fail to recognize the fundamental right of our journalists to work,” Fly wrote to Minister of Foreign Affairs Sirojiddin Muhriddin.

Fly said that RFE/RL “will not succumb to pressure in our reporting in and about Tajikistan,” and urged the ministry “to accredit fully all Ozodi journalists immediately and let them do their jobs.”

According to RFE/RL, eleven journalists and support staff with Radio Liberty’s Tajik Service, locally known as Radio Ozodi, are currently barred from working because they have not been credentialed by the Foreign Ministry, as required by Tajik law.  Among them are three new hires and six awaiting renewals. Of nine additional journalists whose credentials expired on November 1, Tajik Foreign Ministry on October 30 accredited seven, although in six cases the renewals are only for six months and in one case for three months, RFE/RL says, noting that the partial permissions appear to contravene Tajik laws and regulations, which require renewals on an annual basis.

Recall, a U.S. congressional group of lawmakers devoted to press freedom expressed concern in a letter to Tajik President Emomali Rahmon over what they say are constant harassment and threats to journalists of Radio Ozodi. 

Dated October 9, the letter was authored by Adam Schiff (Democrat-California) and Steve Chabot (Republican-Ohio), co-chairmen of the Congressional Press Freedom Caucus in the House of Representatives.

They said ongoing government restrictions, including accreditation denials, on local Radio Ozodi journalists impede the service's ability “to provide accurate and independent news,” information that Tajikistan's “own national media monitors ranked” as the leading website in the country.

Schiff and Chabot said that, if “ongoing harassment of Radio Ozodi and its staff” continues, it could cause “damage the U.S.-Tajik relationship and [do damage] to Tajikistan's reputation.”

Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty is a private, independent international news organization whose programs — radio, Internet, television, and mobile — reach influential audiences in 23 countries, including Russia, Ukraine, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, the republics of Central Asia and the Caucasus.  It is funded by the U.S. Congress through USAGM.