Tajikistan Restores Access To Popular Websites

Many of the websites that had been blocked in Tajikistan since October 5 have now become accessible.

It is again possible to open Facebook, Wikipedia, popular Russian social networks, and Tajik news portals as of October 13.

SMS service across the Central Asian country, which was switched off last week, was reactivated over the weekend.

Hundreds of websites were blocked in Tajikistan after the opposition movement Group 24, led by fugitive businessman Umarali Quvatov, used social media to call for a mass antigovernment protest in Dushanbe on October 10.

The public protest never took place.

Tajikistan's Supreme Court banned Group 24 on October 9, ruling the group was an extremist organization.

On October 10, the Prosecutor-General's Office offered an amnesty to any Group 24 members who quit the organization.

Based on reporting by asialpus.tj and TASS