The press center of the Prosecutor General’s Office published a comedy about Abdullo Gurbati, one of the convicted journalists, thereby “opening the veil” over his “crimes”. Gurbati’s “crimes” include subscribing to Azda TV YouTube channel and punching a police officer in the neck.
The comedy was published under a fancy and pompous headline in the “yellow press” style: “Terrorism, extremism and the use of violence against a representative of authorities!”. Yes, the exclamation mark (!) is also used in the headline of the Prosecutor General’s Office. Probably, the office considered the use of high-profile terms like “terrorism” and “extremism” insufficient to give more eye-catching and pomposity to the headline and attract attention.
At the same time, there is no reports about Gurbati’s “terrorism” and “extremism” in the text of the comedy, despite the use of these two high-profile terms. Of course, the Prosecutor’s Office found “signs” of extremism in the actions, more precisely, in the articles and publications of the convicted journalist, but these “signs” are ridiculous even for such an authoritarian country as Tajikistan. Perhaps even in North Korea everybody would laugh at these signs discovered by the Prosecutor General’s Office of Tajikistan. At the same time, there are no reports of terrorism in the Gurbati case, despite the use of the word “terrorism” in the title. That is, the word “terrorism” in the headline was used illegally, and, therefore, the Prosecutor General’s Office must be held accountable.
The chief state prosecutor claims that Gurbati published “several open and veiled articles and publications” (yes, veiled!), “where the ongoing policy of the State and the Government of the Republic of Tajikistan was systematically discredited, and there were signs of extremist activity in such actions of Gurbatov A.U.”
The Prosecutor General’s Office even gave an example.
“In one of the above articles, he noted that “In one of the abovementioned articles, he stated: “If this people had a master, if this state had a law, if this government had a minister, then the Tajik youth would not prefer to throw themselves out of the window instead of serving their people!!! Or they would not send the Tajik youth to the service of the Homeland by deceit and lies. Now you can insult me as much as you like: “I do not believe in your Paradise on Earth. I do not believe in any national idea, in any minister or leader. Not only national pride, but the nation itself is in under great question”. Same as this publication, A.U. Gurbatov published several other articles and posts”, the Prosecutor General’s Office stated.
The Prosecutor General’s Office does not explain where exactly in the text of this journalist’s publication they found signs of extremism. If someone should be accused of extremism for the use of these words, then at least half of the country’s population should be called extremists. Since these words are openly used in the daily life of the population, in every state institution and company, on the streets and markets, in a word, everywhere.
Another “crime” of Abdullo Gurbati is that he subscribed to the Azda TV YouTube channel, which, according to the Prosecutor’s Office, the journalist did “in order to protect his extremist activities”. If the a journalist subscribed to any channels and pages. it is not considered to be a crime either in Tajikistan or in any other country, since this is required by the journalist’s duty. Half of the world’s journalists are subscribed to the channels and pages of terrorist groups, including ISIS, and so far no one anywhere in the world has been held accountable for this.
The Prosecutor General’s Office believes that Azda TV is “connected with the extremist and terrorist organizations – the National Alliance and the Islamic Renaissance Party”. However, Azda TV, the National Alliance and the IRPT denied this claim, and the Prosecutor General’s Office did not provide any evidence to support these claims.
Another ridiculous statement by the Prosecutor General’s Office is that Gurbati allegedly “followed its videos and used them to color his programs”. If Gurbati did not promote any of these videos (which he certainly did not) and used them only to “color” his programs, then what is the difference between using it by Gurbatu and using by the Prosecutor General’s Office, who also use thousands of videos to “color” their programs , that is, to initiate criminal inestigation or as evidence?
Another accusation brought against Gurbati is the use of violence “against a representative of the authorities”. As stated, Gurbati “when leaving the police station building of Shohmansur district, inside the checkpoint, he met the police officer, Major Murodov D.J., head of the Division No. 7 of the Department of Ministry of Internal Affairs in Shohmansur district of Dushanbe, and knowing that the mentioned person was on duty, out of hatred for Murodov D.J., expressed obscene language and insulted him in the presence of other citizens”. This sentence (in Tajik) is full of spelling errors (like all other sentences of this important state institution) resembles a scene from the film “Mimino”. If you don’t remember, watch this film again, you will definitely find this scene.
Further in their comedy, which for a number of reasons should go in history, the Prosecutor General’s Office wrote “Gurbatov A.U., continuing his criminal actions, not calming down with insults and obscene words addressed to the police officer, Major Murodov D.J., head of the Division No. 7 of the Department of Ministry of Internal Affairs in Shohmansur district of Dushanbe, knowing that the mentioned person was on duty, inside the checkpoint of the police station, with the use of force, tore off the left shoulder badge and four buttons from Murodov D.J. police uniform and punched him in the neck in the presence of other citizens.”
Maybe there is somone in the country who would believe in this fairy tale told by the Prosecutor General’s Office?
Abdullo Gurbati, being a journalist, having studied the law because of his job, and knowing what there would be consequences, having a thin physique, attacked a police officer, tore off his shoulder badge and punched him in the neck? Is it also possible that the police officer lay unconscious for several hours because of this punch?
Source: payomnet