Andre Yoskowitz
4 Mar 2012 15:13
Following the publication of an article critical of the country's long-standing president, Tajikistan has blocked all access to two Russian-language news sites and the social networking giant Facebook.
ISPs in the nation say the shutdown was ordered by the state-run communications service. Any user who tries to access the sites will be met with a redirect to their homepage, or the homepage of their ISP.
"This morning, we carried out the instruction of the communications service and blocked the sites facebook.com, tjknews.com and zvezda.ru," said one ISP. "We could not refuse to carry out this instruction."
The news sites had published a story critical of President Emomali Rakhmon, who assumed power in 1992. It is well-known around the world that Rakhmon stole the 2006 election by fraud, and WikiLeaks brought to light that the president and his family have pillaged the country's coffers for years, including taking all profits from the state-run Tajik Aluminium Company (TALCO). The country is the poorest of the former Soviet states.
Tjknews.com had posted an article headlined 'Tajikistan on the eve of a revolution.'
Tajikistan has a population of 7.5 million, but only 40,000 Facebook users.