DUSHANBE, 13.06.2020. (NIAT Khovar) – On May 29, President of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (Radio Ozodi) Jamie Fly once again defended his journalists working in Tajikistan and found fault with the Tajik authorities on the topic of the coronavirus. According to him, the Tajik service of Radio Ozodi, against the backdrop of distrust in official statistics, is compiling an independent list of victims of COVID-19 in the country.

“Intercession for  colleagues would be commendable if it were not absurd,” said Deputy Head of the Information Support Department of the Center for Strategic Studies under the President of Tajikistan Valijon Olimzoda in an interview with Khovar.

When asked why he thinks of it as absurd, Olimzoda explained that:

Initially, the distrust of official statistics, not only on the coronavirus, but on any issue, I think, can always be considered absurd and ridiculous. If you do not believe the official statistics, which are formed based on documents and summaries, then what can you believe? Those vague, incomplete, fragmentary figures that the journalists of Radio Ozodi compose according to rumors, phone calls, their observations and conclusions? Before criticizing official statistics, it would be advisable to think up other formats for calculating these indicators and prove that they are better.

For example, economists say that one cannot infer about inflation in the whole country by simply going to the store. Similarly, seeing people in protective overalls and medical masks burying the deceased, covering his grave with plastic, does not mean that the person died precisely from the coronavirus. Indeed, according to the procedure adopted last month by the Committee for Religious Affairs, Regulation of Traditions and Ceremonies of Tajikistan which was published in the media outlets, all the deceased, regardless of whether they were diagnosed with COVID-19 or not, whether they had similar or suspected symptoms of coronavirus or not, are to buried by observing the implemented precautions due to the risk of transmission of infections during a pandemic. This is happening everywhere, not only in Europe or America, but also in Muslim Arab countries.

Today in many other countries, journalists, doctors, the so-called “active fighters for justice,” have created organizations and portals that publish so-called “alternative data” and fake and falsified materials about the coronavirus. For example, recently, journalist Dmitry Kiselyov in his program Vesti Nedeli (Week News) spoke about the fake union under the catchy name “Alliance of Doctors,” which exists online. Members of this “alliance” deceive the gullible public, publish a flurry of anonymous letters supposedly in defense of patients who are supposedly not being treated properly, in defense of physicians who are allegedly not provided with protective equipment and such. These impostor “trade unions” promote themselves, spreading lies about others.

Secondly, according to Radio Ozodi journalists, Tajik authorities ignored the WHO recommendations for almost a month and denied the presence of the coronavirus within its borders. Only on April 30 did the country’s Ministry of Health report the first 15 COVID-19 cases.

Well, dear friends! How can one ignore that which does not exist? Or to put it in other words, how can one claim to have an item on a completely empty table? After all, that would be a lie.

Indeed, Tajik authorities reported about the first infected cases a month after the pandemic was announced by WHO. That was due to the lack of relevant information about this virus, lack of tests, methods and regimens for detection and treatment, -as was the case also in other countries, -which made it impossible to declare the presence of the coronavirus. Even more so due to the unpreparedness of doctors and medical facilities. After all, all of humanity has encountered this for the first time. As Euronews has repeatedly reported, European health care systems were also completely unprepared for this scourge. Can RFE / RL President state that in some country they were ready for this and gave a rapid response to the insidious virus? Were they prepared in China or Japan, in Italy or Spain, in the UK or the USA?

Does Fly know that, following his logic, Europe and America are also late with the confirmation of the coronavirus. If Tajikistan was late for one month, then they were for two whole months. Did they also ignore the presence of the pandemic?

Italian molecular biologists have found that the first cases of the coronavirus infection in their country occurred in late January. They published their findings in the MedRxiv electronic scientific library. A team of researchers from the city of Colmar in northeastern France said they discovered two X-rays taken from November 16 through November 18 last year, which reflected symptoms consistent with COVID-19. NBC News reported about the likely breakthrough of doctors in the race to establish where and when the coronavirus pandemic first hit Europe.

If such information is confirmed, it would indicate that the virus spread in Europe two months before France announced its first cases on January 24, and even long before COVID-19 was officially identified in China.

The same can be said about the USA. With the recent news that two Californians died from COVID-19 back in February, three weeks before the first US deaths from the disease were recorded, it became clear that the coronavirus spread in the United States long before it was discovered. By the way, this was reported by one of the most popular American television channels, Fox News.

Thirdly, Fly believes that the Tajik Foreign Ministry delayed the issuance of accreditation to eight Radio Ozodi journalists, and they cannot continue to work. Moreover, he notes that allegedly pro-government fake Facebook accounts attack the Tajik bureaucrats by publishing caricatured photographs of journalists and insulting comments about them. In late March, Fly wrote a similar letter to the Minister of Foreign Affairs Sirojiddin Muhriddin.

So, on December 10 last year at a press conference in Brussels, Muhriddin clearly answered questions about the difficulties with obtaining accreditation of Radio Ozodi journalists. He drew attention to the security situation.

“You know very well that we are bordering with Afghanistan, where many threats come from. You also know that during the short period of our independence we survived a civil war, and there are many other factors that threaten security and stability in the country. Therefore, the role of the media is very important, and journalists and media representatives should carry out their activities within the framework of existing national legislation,” Muhriddin continued.

“In October, we extended accreditation to seven journalists and technical staff of Radio Ozodi. Why did it take time? Because the country’s regulations are like that. Each country has its own rules,” Muhriddin added.

There is nothing to add.

Valijon OLIMZODA

By the way, about the pro-government fake accounts on Facebook, which allegedly attack the Tajik bureau of this radio by publishing caricatured photos of journalists and insulting comments about them. For some reason, Fly does not seem to notice or mind the similar anti-government fake accounts that do the same thing, but only against the Tajik authorities.

There is a saying: If you have said A, you must also say B. I am not a journalist, but I think that for a sober assessment of a situation, you need to look at the whole picture. Then you can soberly assess what is happening and respond adequately.

Facebook was created back in 2004 not in Tajikistan, but in America. For the sake of freedom of speech, “a sacred and untouchable category.”

Or is it right that US President Donald Trump, who late last month issued a decree on the regulation of social networks in America? He said that social networks are involved in censorship and that their political actions will no longer be protected from liability.

Perhaps other countries should do something similar?
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* Intercession, that is, action and speeches aimed at providing patronage, protecting someone, is, in principle, a laudable thing, especially when it comes to supporting the leader of subordinates. But when such intercession is absurd and, due to its internal contradictions, false, that is, not true, then it will be not only meaningless, but also harmful.