Tajikistan Restores Accreditation Of RFE/RL Journalists In Dushanbe

Tajikistan Restores Accreditation Of RFE/RL Journalists In Dushanbe

By RFE/RL's Tajik Service

DUSHANBE -- Authorities in Tajikistan have restored media accreditation to RFE/RL's correspondents in the Central Asian nation, 10 days after revoking their credentials over a report about a daughter of President Emomali Rahmon.

Six members of RFE/RL's Tajik Service returned to work in Dushanbe on December 6 after the Tajik Foreign Ministry reissued their accreditation on December 5.

Tajikistan had revoked their accreditation on November 25 after RFE/RL rejected the Foreign Ministry's demand that it remove a story on the appointment of Rahmon's daughter Rukhshona Rahmonova to head the ministry's International Relations Department.

RFE/RL said the report was based on a post on the Foreign Ministry's website that was further confirmed to the broadcaster by a source at the ministry.

RFE/RL officially protested the decision to revoke the accreditation, which RFE/RL President Thomas Kent called "a blatant attack on our ability to do our jobs as journalists."

Earlier in November, Tajik officials demanded the removal of a report on a U.S. State Department message warning American travelers about the risk of terrorist activity in Tajikistan. RFE/RL refused to remove that story, too.