Rajab Maraimov (Rajabi Mirzo)
Affiliated media: Independent journalist
Incident date: June 13, 2020
Attack type:
- Defamation, spreading libel about a media worker or media outlet
Who attacked: Authorities
Source: jumhuriyat.tj
Location: Tajikistan, Dushanbe
Additional information:
A large, libelous article about the independent journalist Rajabi Mirzo was published in the government newspaper Jumhuriat. The article connects him with Tajik opposition leader Makhmadruzi Iskandarov, who is serving a sentence for economic crimes. The text says that Iskandarov took part in murders and rapes in the years of civil war in Tajikistan. And the text also says that Mirzo abuses alcohol and criticizes the government in exchange for an apartment which supposedly the relatives of the former mayor bought for him. The material is signed by Niezi Abdullo Abdukodirzod, a supposed graduate of the Center for Investigative Journalism. But the head of the Center says no such person is among their graduates.