The situation around Radio Ozodi, the Tajik service of the international non-profit broadcasting organization Radio Liberty (RFE / RL) *, is reminiscent of a joke. This was stated by the official representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia Maria Zakharova.

“This is an anecdote, although I understand that for the participants of this drama these events are really not funny and not funny, because here it is difficult to speak about any violation of rights and freedoms. It seems to me that this is just their oblivion, ”said Zakharova.

Recall, on April 2, material appeared on the Radio Liberty website stating that the director of RFE / RL programs in Central Asia, Abbas Javadi, and the head of Radio Ozodi, Sojida Jahfarova, who had held her post since 2009, resigned. The reasons for the decision of media managers are not given.

However, the resignations could be the result of an audit, which RFE / RL conducted in connection with numerous accusations of lack of professionalism, pro-government stance and government interference in the work of the Tajik service of Radio Liberty.

At the same time, Maria Zakharova noted that the company should conduct a similar study of the activities of the Russian service of Radio Liberty, if the company’s management wants to eradicate the bias and lack of professionalism of its employees.

“I think the result of this analysis will surprise them, because so many biased attitudes and propaganda materials are shocking. If we deal with anyone and American leaders, so it is with a representative office in Moscow. This is an extreme structured structure, which, in the language of Americans, has nothing to do with reality and illuminates anything, but not reality, ”the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry explained.

Letter and Verification

At the beginning of February 2019, 22 scientists and experts from various institutions in America, Europe and Asia turned to RFE / RL headquarters because the leadership of Radio Ozodi was allegedly under the control of the Tajik authorities.

A month and a half later, on March 25, 2019, the press service of RFE / RL published a statement by the acting president of the organization, Daisy Sindelar. According to her, in connection with the accusations of lack of professionalism and the intervention of the authorities in the work of the Tajik service of Radio Liberty, it was decided to analyze the editorial policy of Radio Ozodi.

The study covered four aspects: the subjective coverage of the life of the President of Tajikistan Emomali Rahmon, the publication of laudatory and non-informative materials about the presidential family and high-ranking officials, ignoring Western reports on human rights, and biased coverage of the Islamic Revival Party of Tajikistan (this organization was recognized by the Tajik Supreme Court of the terrorist in 2015).

“The audit showed that in all four aspects of the operation, the Tajik service PFE / RL does not comply with the standards of the organization, and we have already taken the necessary measures to correct these shortcomings,” the statement said.

At the same time, Sindelar expressed her readiness to solve the problem in a “transparent and comprehensive manner”.

Just a day later, on March 26, an investigation appeared on the Eurasianet.org website, based, among other things, on conversations with former and current employees of Radio Ozodi. The submission states that the issuing editors of the Tajik service working in Prague often ignored or rejected articles criticizing the authorities of Tajikistan.

It also indicates that the activities of the Tajik service of Radio Liberty are not satisfied with the US Department of State.

"The United States can no longer risk the reputation of the American news organization operating in the information space, where anti-American misinformation and anti-democratic standards dominate," the authors of the Department of State internal use quotes the authors of the material.

Eurasianet.org also appealed to Radio Liberty itself, but there they denied that the organization’s employees colluded with Tajik officials or deleted stories at their request. However, RFE / RL assured them that they would try to provide more comprehensive coverage of events in the future.

However, the measures taken by RFE / RL obviously did not satisfy the authors of the February appeal, and on March 28 they published an open letter on the openDemocracy portal. They regretted that no personnel decisions were made in RFE / RL.

At the same time, they appealed to the US agencies responsible for the financing of Radio Liberty - the Foreign Affairs Committee of the House of Representatives, the US Global Media Agency (USAGM), and the Office of the Inspector General of the State Department - to conduct an independent investigation into the Tajik service.

According to Western experts, the current editorial policy of Radio Ozodi no longer corresponds to “democratic and pluralistic values” and undermines the reputation of the United States with its pro-government coverage of events.

“Without drastic changes in editorial guidance and politics, it is not clear why US taxpayers should continue to fund media that challenge American and democratic values ​​and help an authoritarian regime justify repression against its internal competitors,” the letter says.

Just four days later, on April 2, it became known about the resignation of Abbas Javadi, RFE / RL programs director for Central Asia and Sozida Jahfarov, head of Radio Ozodi.