Tajik Media Reported Worsening Ahead Of Polls

19 January 2005 -- A Tajik media rights watchdog has said the media rights situation in Tajikistan is worsening in the run-up to parliamentary elections.
19 January 2005 -- A Tajik media rights watchdog said the media rights situation in Tajikistan is worsening in the run-up to parliamentary elections.

The National Association of Independent Mass Media in Tajikistan released a statement today saying that it has registered 204 cases of media rights violations in the country in 2004.

The media group says authorities are using various tactics to limit the media's access and distribution of information, including refusals to give accreditation, favoritism, and priveleges to giving information to state media rather than to independent or opposition media.

The National Association of Independent Mass Media in Tajikistan says it has "concern and anxiety" over the freedom of speech situation in Tajikistan.

(Asia Plus/Avesta/nansmit.org)