Radio Ozodi: Difference between revisions

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”’Radio Ozodi”’ (Tajik: {{Lang|tg|Радиои Озодӣ}},<ref name=”:2″>{{Cite web |title=Рисолати Радиои Озодӣ |url=https://www.ozodi.org/p/4447.html |access-date=2025-12-04 |website=Радиои Озодӣ |language=tg}}</ref> Russian: Радио Озоди,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Радио Озоди |url=https://rus.ozodi.org/ |access-date=2025-12-04 |website=Радио Озоди |language=ru}}</ref> {{Abbr|lit|literal translation}}: “Radio Freedom”<ref name=”:8″>{{Cite web |title=Tajikistan Blocks Radio Ozodi Website |url=https://cacianalyst.org/publications/field-reports/item/12924-tajikistan-blocks-radio-ozodi-website.html |access-date=2025-12-05 |website=cacianalyst.org |language=en}}</ref>), officially the ”’Radio Liberty Tajik Service”’,<ref>{{Cite web |title=EU politicians make push for Radio Free Europe funding after Trump cuts {{!}} Tajikistan News ASIA-Plus |url=https://asiaplustj.info/en/news/world/20250319/eu-politicians-make-push-for-radio-free-europe-funding-after-trump-cuts |access-date=2025-12-05 |website=asiaplustj.info |language=en}}</ref><ref name=”:9″>{{Cite news |date=2020-01-22 |title=RFE/RL: Government ‘Impeding’ It From Functioning In Tajikistan |url=https://www.rferl.org/a/rferl-government-impeding-it-from-functioning-in-tajikistan/30391910.html |access-date=2025-12-05 |work=Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty |language=en}}</ref> is the branch of [[Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty]] (RFE/RL) operating in [[Tajikistan]].<ref name=”:0″>{{Cite web |date=2022-05-17 |title=RFE/RL’s Tajik Service |url=https://about.rferl.org/service/tajik-service/ |access-date=2025-12-04 |website=Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty |language=en-US}}</ref><ref name=”:1″>{{Cite web |title=Radio Ozodi (Website) |url=https://caspiana.omeka.fas.harvard.edu/items/show/2677 |access-date=4 December 2025 |website=Harvard Caspiana}}</ref> Founded in 1953, Radio Ozodi reports on topics not covered by the [[Mass media in Tajikistan|Tajik state-run media]] or other local outlets and counters [[Russian disinformation]].<ref name=”:0″ /><ref name=”:3″>{{Cite web |title=About us |url=https://rus.ozodi.org/p/4443.html |access-date=2025-12-05 |website=Радио Озоди |language=ru}}</ref><ref name=”:10″>{{Cite web |last=Long |first=Katherine Khashimova |title=In Tajikistan, America’s beacon for a free press may have been corrupted |url=https://www.cjr.org/watchdog/tajikistan-radio-ozodi.php |access-date=2025-12-05 |website=Columbia Journalism Review |language=en}}</ref> RFE/RL is funded by the [[Federal government of the United States|United States government]] through the [[United States Agency for Global Media|US Agency for Global Media]] (USAGM) but retains editorial independence.<ref name=”:2″ /><ref name=”:1″ /> {{As of|2019}}, Radio Ozodi operates the most popular [[Facebook]] and [[YouTube]] pages in Tajikistan.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Press freedom challenges continue in Central Asia |url=https://www.usagm.gov/2019/10/02/press-freedom-challenges-continue-in-central-asia/ |access-date=2025-12-05 |website=USAGM |language=en-US}}</ref>

”’Radio Ozodi”’ (Tajik: {{Lang|tg|Радиои Озодӣ}},<ref name=”:2″>{{Cite web |title=Рисолати Радиои Озодӣ |url=https://www.ozodi.org/p/4447.html |access-date=2025-12-04 |website=Радиои Озодӣ |language=tg}}</ref> Russian: Радио Озоди,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Радио Озоди |url=https://rus.ozodi.org/ |access-date=2025-12-04 |website=Радио Озоди |language=ru}}</ref> {{Abbr|lit|literal translation}}: “Radio Freedom”<ref name=”:8″>{{Cite web |title=Tajikistan Blocks Radio Ozodi Website |url=https://cacianalyst.org/publications/field-reports/item/12924-tajikistan-blocks-radio-ozodi-website.html |access-date=2025-12-05 |website=cacianalyst.org |language=en}}</ref>), officially the ”’Radio Liberty Tajik Service”’,<ref>{{Cite web |title=EU politicians make push for Radio Free Europe funding after Trump cuts |url=https://asiaplustj.info/en/news/world/20250319/eu-politicians-make-push-for-radio-free-europe-funding-after-trump-cuts |access-date=2025-12-05 |website= |language=en}}</ref><ref name=”:9″>{{Cite news |date=2020-01-22 |title=RFE/RL: Government ‘Impeding’ It From Functioning In Tajikistan |url=https://www.rferl.org/a/rferl-government-impeding-it-from-functioning-in-tajikistan/30391910.html |access-date=2025-12-05 |work=Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty |language=en}}</ref> is the branch of [[Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty]] (RFE/RL) operating in [[Tajikistan]].<ref name=”:0″>{{Cite web |date=2022-05-17 |title=RFE/RL’s Tajik Service |url=https://about.rferl.org/service/tajik-service/ |access-date=2025-12-04 |website=Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty |language=en-US}}</ref><ref name=”:1″>{{Cite web |title=Radio Ozodi (Website) |url=https://caspiana.omeka.fas.harvard.edu/items/show/2677 |access-date=4 December 2025 |website=Harvard Caspiana}}</ref> Founded in 1953, Radio Ozodi reports on topics not covered by the [[Mass media in Tajikistan|Tajik state-run media]] or other local outlets and counters [[Russian disinformation]].<ref name=”:0″ /><ref name=”:3″>{{Cite web |title=About us |url=https://rus.ozodi.org/p/4443.html |access-date=2025-12-05 |website=Радио Озоди |language=ru}}</ref><ref name=”:10″>{{Cite web |last=Long |first=Katherine Khashimova |title=In Tajikistan, America’s beacon for a free press may have been corrupted |url=https://www.cjr.org/watchdog/tajikistan-radio-ozodi.php |access-date=2025-12-05 |website=Columbia Journalism Review |language=en}}</ref> RFE/RL is funded by the [[Federal government of the United States|United States government]] through the [[United States Agency for Global Media|US Agency for Global Media]] (USAGM) but retains editorial independence.<ref name=”:2″ /><ref name=”:1″ /> {{As of|2019}}, Radio Ozodi operates the most popular [[Facebook]] and [[YouTube]] pages in Tajikistan.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Press freedom challenges continue in Central Asia |url=https://www.usagm.gov/2019/10/02/press-freedom-challenges-continue-in-central-asia/ |access-date=2025-12-05 |website=USAGM |language=en-US}}</ref>

== History ==

== History ==

Radio Ozodi was launched in 1953 with the mission to spread democratic values in Tajikistan.<ref name=”:0″ /><ref name=”:3″ /> The first head of the Tajik Service was Markiel Daniel, and its first editor was Muhammad Sarvari Mir, working for RFE/RL between 1964 and 1995. Originally, the Russian-language section of the service was more prominent. Daniel led the growth of the Tajik-language part of Radio Ozodi. For the first few decades of its existence, Radio Ozodi and RFE/RL radio was blocked in the Soviet Union and said to be propaganda against the government. However, when the [[Iron Curtain]] began to fall, Radio Ozodi began to grow in Tajikistan.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Gulov |first1=Sangin |last2=Ahmed |first2=Mahmood |date=2024-04-19 |title=Activity of international media in Tajikistan |url=https://archive.interconf.center/index.php/2709-4685/article/view/5937 |journal=Scientific Collection «InterConf+» |volume=44 |language=en |issue=197 |pages=231–241 |doi=10.51582/interconf.19-20.04.2024.023 |issn=2709-4685|doi-access=free }}</ref> Radio Ozodi remained one of the only international radio stations in Tajikistan, even after the fall of the Soviet Union.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5-dtAAAAMAAJ |title=Central Eurasia: Analytical Annual |date=2007 |publisher=CA&CC Press |page=231 |language=en}}</ref>

Radio Ozodi was launched in 1953 with the mission to spread democratic values in Tajikistan.<ref name=”:0″ /><ref name=”:3″ /> The first head of the Tajik Service was Markiel Daniel, and its first editor was Muhammad Sarvari Mir, working for RFE/RL between 1964 and 1995. Originally, the Russian-language section of the service was more prominent. Daniel led the growth of the Tajik-language part of Radio Ozodi. For the first few decades of its existence, Radio Ozodi and RFE/RL radio was blocked in the Soviet Union and said to be propaganda against the government. However, when the [[Iron Curtain]] began to fall, Radio Ozodi began to grow in Tajikistan.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Gulov |first1=Sangin |last2=Ahmed |first2=Mahmood |date=2024-04-19 |title=Activity of international media in Tajikistan |url=https://archive.interconf.center/index.php/2709-4685/article/view/5937 |journal=Scientific Collection «InterConf+» |volume=44 |language=en |issue=197 |pages=231–241 |doi=10.51582/interconf.19-20.04.2024.023 |issn=2709-4685|doi-access=free }}</ref> Radio Ozodi remained one of the only international radio stations in Tajikistan, even after the fall of the Soviet Union.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5-dtAAAAMAAJ |title=Central Eurasia: Analytical Annual |date=2007 |publisher=CA&CC Press |page=231 |language=en}}</ref>

The government of Tajikistan under [[Emomali Rahmon]] had conducted much harassment against Radio Ozodi journalists.<ref name=”:5″ /><ref name=”:6″ /><ref name=”:7″>{{Cite web |title=US-funded broadcaster under scrutiny for enabling Tajikistan’s strongman rule {{!}} Eurasianet |url=https://eurasianet.org/us-funded-broadcaster-under-scrutiny-for-enabling-tajikistans-strongman-rule |access-date=2025-12-05 |website=eurasianet.org |language=en}}</ref> Prior to 2015, there was not much news censorship in Tajikistan. Censorship increased greatly in 2021 and 2022.<ref name=”:11″>{{Cite web |last=Staff |first=CPJ Europe and Central Asia Program |date=2024-01-04 |title=In Tajikistan, independent media throttled by state repression |url=https://cpj.org/2024/01/in-tajikistan-independent-media-throttled-by-state-repression/ |access-date=2025-12-05 |website=Committee to Protect Journalists |language=en-US}}</ref> In March 2021, two RFE/RL correspondents were beaten at a [[Soro Oil]] gas station. In May 2021, a government employee threatened RFE/RL journalists in a Dushanbe hotel and stripped the journalists of their [[accreditation]].<ref name=”:4″>{{Cite web |title=RFE/RL Pressroom |url=https://x.com/RFERLPress/status/1494659342162927620 |url-status=live |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20250413091039/https://x.com/RFERLPress/status/1494659342162927620 |archive-date=2025-04-13 |access-date=2025-12-05 |website=X (formerly Twitter) |language=en}}</ref> In 2022, four journalists were beaten and threatened by agents linked to the Tajik security service.<ref name=”:6″>{{Cite web |last=pduskie |date=2022-05-18 |title=RFE/RL Journalists Beaten In Tajikistan |url=https://about.rferl.org/article/rfe-rl-journalists-beaten-in-tajikistan/ |access-date=2025-12-05 |website=Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty |language=en-US}}</ref> Radio Ozodi journalists that are arrested in Tajikistan are often subject to [[torture]] and forced [[false confession]]s.<ref name=”:11″ /><ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-10-25 |title=Jailed Tajik journalist Abdusattor Pirmuhammadzoda describes severe physical abuse, forced confession in letter |url=https://cpj.org/2022/10/jailed-tajik-journalist-abdusattor-pirmuhammadzoda-describes-severe-physical-abuse-forced-confession-in-letter/ |access-date=2025-12-05 |website=Committee to Protect Journalists |language=en-US}}</ref> Many journalists that report against the government are arrested and sent to prison for terms upwards of 20 years.<ref name=”:11″ /> RFE/RL journalists in Tajikistan are often also held from accreditation for extended periods of time.<ref name=”:5″ /><ref name=”:4″ /> Many Radio Ozodi employees are also subject to attacks on social media.<ref name=”:5″ /><ref name=”:4″ /> RFE/RL websites, including Radio Ozodi, have been blocked in Tajikistan since 2021.<ref name=”:11″ /><ref>{{Cite web |title=Сомонаи Озодиро кушода наметавонед? |url=https://www.ozodi.org/p/8609.html |access-date=2025-12-05 |website=Радиои Озодӣ |language=tg}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Matveev |first=Andrei |date=2025-02-10 |title=Elon Musk Calls for Closure of RFE/RL and VOA: What Would It Mean for Central Asia? – The Times Of Central Asia |url=https://timesca.com/elon-musk-calls-to-close-rfe-rl-central-asian-journalism-again-under-threat/ |access-date=2025-12-05 |language=en-US}}</ref> Access has been blocked intermittently since at least 2012.<ref name=”:8″ /><ref>{{Cite web |title=RFE/RL Decries Web Interference in Tajikistan |url=https://www.usagm.gov/2014/02/24/rferl-decries-web-interference-in-tajikistan/ |access-date=2025-12-05 |website=USAGM |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Radio Ozodi’s Web Access Restored, But Tajik Reporter Remains Banned |url=https://www.usagm.gov/2013/01/22/radio-ozodis-web-access-restored-but-tajik-reporter-remains-banned/ |access-date=2025-12-05 |website=USAGM |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Tajik Government Blocks RFE/RL Website |url=https://www.usagm.gov/2012/11/30/tajik-government-blocks-rferl-website/ |access-date=2025-12-05 |website=USAGM |language=en-US}}</ref>

The government of Tajikistan under [[Emomali Rahmon]] had conducted much harassment against Radio Ozodi journalists.<ref name=”:5″ /><ref name=”:6″ /><ref name=”:7″>{{Cite web |title=US-funded broadcaster under scrutiny for enabling Tajikistan’s strongman rule |url=https://eurasianet.org/us-funded-broadcaster-under-scrutiny-for-enabling-tajikistans-strongman-rule |access-date=2025-12-05 |website= |language=en}}</ref> Prior to 2015, there was not much news censorship in Tajikistan. Censorship increased greatly in 2021 and 2022.<ref name=”:11″>{{Cite web |last=Staff |first=CPJ Europe and Central Asia Program |date=2024-01-04 |title=In Tajikistan, independent media throttled by state repression |url=https://cpj.org/2024/01/in-tajikistan-independent-media-throttled-by-state-repression/ |access-date=2025-12-05 |website=Committee to Protect Journalists |language=en-US}}</ref> In March 2021, two RFE/RL correspondents were beaten at a [[Soro Oil]] gas station. In May 2021, a government employee threatened RFE/RL journalists in a Dushanbe hotel and stripped the journalists of their [[accreditation]].<ref name=”:4″>{{Cite web |title=RFE/RL Pressroom |url=https://x.com/RFERLPress/status/1494659342162927620 |url-status=live |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20250413091039/https://x.com/RFERLPress/status/1494659342162927620 |archive-date=2025-04-13 |access-date=2025-12-05 |website=X (formerly Twitter) |language=en}}</ref> In 2022, four journalists were beaten and threatened by agents linked to the Tajik security service.<ref name=”:6″>{{Cite web |last=pduskie |date=2022-05-18 |title=RFE/RL Journalists Beaten In Tajikistan |url=https://about.rferl.org/article/rfe-rl-journalists-beaten-in-tajikistan/ |access-date=2025-12-05 |website=Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty |language=en-US}}</ref> Radio Ozodi journalists that are arrested in Tajikistan are often subject to [[torture]] and forced [[false confession]]s.<ref name=”:11″ /><ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-10-25 |title=Jailed Tajik journalist Abdusattor Pirmuhammadzoda describes severe physical abuse, forced confession in letter |url=https://cpj.org/2022/10/jailed-tajik-journalist-abdusattor-pirmuhammadzoda-describes-severe-physical-abuse-forced-confession-in-letter/ |access-date=2025-12-05 |website=Committee to Protect Journalists |language=en-US}}</ref> Many journalists that report against the government are arrested and sent to prison for terms upwards of 20 years.<ref name=”:11″ /> RFE/RL journalists in Tajikistan are often also held from accreditation for extended periods of time.<ref name=”:5″ /><ref name=”:4″ /> Many Radio Ozodi employees are also subject to attacks on social media.<ref name=”:5″ /><ref name=”:4″ /> RFE/RL websites, including Radio Ozodi, have been blocked in Tajikistan since 2021.<ref name=”:11″ /><ref>{{Cite web |title=Сомонаи Озодиро кушода наметавонед? |url=https://www.ozodi.org/p/8609.html |access-date=2025-12-05 |website=Радиои Озодӣ |language=tg}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Matveev |first=Andrei |date=2025-02-10 |title=Elon Musk Calls for Closure of RFE/RL and VOA: What Would It Mean for Central Asia? – The Times Of Central Asia |url=https://timesca.com/elon-musk-calls-to-close-rfe-rl-central-asian-journalism-again-under-threat/ |access-date=2025-12-05 |language=en-US}}</ref> Access has been blocked intermittently since at least 2012.<ref name=”:8″ /><ref>{{Cite web |title=RFE/RL Decries Web Interference in Tajikistan |url=https://www.usagm.gov/2014/02/24/rferl-decries-web-interference-in-tajikistan/ |access-date=2025-12-05 |website=USAGM |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Radio Ozodi’s Web Access Restored, But Tajik Reporter Remains Banned |url=https://www.usagm.gov/2013/01/22/radio-ozodis-web-access-restored-but-tajik-reporter-remains-banned/ |access-date=2025-12-05 |website=USAGM |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Tajik Government Blocks RFE/RL Website |url=https://www.usagm.gov/2012/11/30/tajik-government-blocks-rferl-website/ |access-date=2025-12-05 |website=USAGM |language=en-US}}</ref>

In 2021, a bipartisan-supported letter was sent to the Tajik government urging them to stop pressure and harassment against RFE/RL journalism in the country.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2021-11-12 |title=Bipartisan Group Of U.S. Lawmakers Urge Rahmon To End Pressure On RFE/RL’s Tajik Service |url=https://www.rferl.org/a/tajikistan-congress-letter-pressure/31558997.html |access-date=2025-12-05 |work=Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty |language=en}}</ref>

In 2021, a bipartisan-supported letter was sent to the Tajik government urging them to stop pressure and harassment against RFE/RL journalism in the country.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2021-11-12 |title=Bipartisan Group Of U.S. Lawmakers Urge Rahmon To End Pressure On RFE/RL’s Tajik Service |url=https://www.rferl.org/a/tajikistan-congress-letter-pressure/31558997.html |access-date=2025-12-05 |work=Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty |language=en}}</ref>

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== Criticism ==

== Criticism ==

Radio Ozodi has also been criticised for being too light on Rahmon’s government. In 2019, the [[United States Department of State|US Department of State]] criticised RFE/RL’s Tajik service for not reporting enough on the Tajik government’s human rights abuses and corruption, and that the Tajik Service is not performing its “[[Watchdog journalism|watchdog]] duty” on the government. Radio Ozodi has also been investigated by the State Department for glossing over details that may be potentially embarrassing to the Tajik government or Rahmon in their reporting and using terminology given by the government. The State Department accuses Radio Ozodi of putting the US government in a bad light by simply verifying the Tajik government’s talking points, effectively becoming a mouthpiece for propaganda. However, pieces of reporting too critical of the Tajik government bring scrutiny to RFE/RL and risk having Radio Ozodi lose accreditation and their office in Dushanbe. RFE/RL denies the allegations of bias and skewed reporting towards the Tajik government and investigated Radio Ozodi.<ref name=”:10″ /><ref name=”:7″ /><ref>{{Cite book |last=House |first=Freedom |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8_uAEQAAQBAJ |title=Freedom in the World 2020: The Annual Survey of Political Rights and Civil Liberties |date=2021-01-22 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing USA |isbn=979-8-216-25523-9 |page=1150 |language=en}}</ref>

Radio Ozodi has also been criticised for being too light on Rahmon’s government. In 2019, the [[United States Department of State|US Department of State]] criticised RFE/RL’s Tajik service for not reporting enough on the Tajik government’s human rights abuses and corruption, and that the Tajik Service is not performing its “[[Watchdog journalism|watchdog]] duty” on the government. Radio Ozodi has also been investigated by the State Department for glossing over details that may be potentially embarrassing to the Tajik government or Rahmon in their reporting and using terminology given by the government. The State Department accuses Radio Ozodi of putting the US government in a bad light by simply verifying the Tajik government’s talking points, effectively becoming a mouthpiece for propaganda. However, pieces of reporting too critical of the Tajik government bring scrutiny to RFE/RL and risk having Radio Ozodi lose accreditation and their office in Dushanbe. RFE/RL denies the allegations of bias and skewed reporting towards the Tajik government and investigated Radio Ozodi.<ref name=”:10″ /><ref name=”:7″ /><ref>{{Cite book |last=House |first= |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8_uAEQAAQBAJ |title=Freedom in the World 2020: The Annual Survey of Political Rights and Civil Liberties |date=2021-01-22 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing USA |isbn=979-8-216-25523-9 |page=1150 |language=en}}</ref>

In 2016, Radio Ozodi struck a deal with Radio Imruz, a radio station owned by Rahmon’s brother-in-law.<ref name=”:10″ /><ref name=”:7″ /> Radio Imruz made editorial demands after the deal was signed, forcing Radio Ozodi to tone down its reporting on the Tajik government.<ref name=”:7″ /> The deal was criticised by the US State Department.<ref name=”:10″ />

In 2016, Radio Ozodi struck a deal with Radio Imruz, a radio station owned by Rahmon’s brother-in-law.<ref name=”:10″ /><ref name=”:7″ /> Radio Imruz made editorial demands after the deal was signed, forcing Radio Ozodi to tone down its reporting on the Tajik government.<ref name=”:7″ /> The deal was criticised by the US State Department.<ref name=”:10″ />

Tajik service of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty

Radio Ozodi (Tajik: Радиои Озодӣ,[1] Russian: Радио Озоди,[2] lit: “Radio Freedom”[3]), officially the Radio Liberty Tajik Service,[4][5] is the branch of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) operating in Tajikistan.[6][7] Founded in 1953, Radio Ozodi reports on topics not covered by the Tajik state-run media or other local outlets and counters Russian disinformation.[6][8][9] RFE/RL is funded by the United States government through the US Agency for Global Media (USAGM) but retains editorial independence.[1][7] As of 2019[update], Radio Ozodi operates the most popular Facebook and YouTube pages in Tajikistan.[10]

Radio Ozodi was launched in 1953 with the mission to spread democratic values in Tajikistan.[6][8] The first head of the Tajik Service was Markiel Daniel, and its first editor was Muhammad Sarvari Mir, working for RFE/RL between 1964 and 1995. Originally, the Russian-language section of the service was more prominent. Daniel led the growth of the Tajik-language part of Radio Ozodi. For the first few decades of its existence, Radio Ozodi and RFE/RL radio was blocked in the Soviet Union and said to be propaganda against the government. However, when the Iron Curtain began to fall, Radio Ozodi began to grow in Tajikistan.[11] Radio Ozodi remained one of the only international radio stations in Tajikistan, even after the fall of the Soviet Union.[12]

The government of Tajikistan under Emomali Rahmon had conducted much harassment against Radio Ozodi journalists.[13][14][15] Prior to 2015, there was not much news censorship in Tajikistan. Censorship increased greatly in 2021 and 2022.[16] In March 2021, two RFE/RL correspondents were beaten at a Soro Oil gas station. In May 2021, a government employee threatened RFE/RL journalists in a Dushanbe hotel and stripped the journalists of their accreditation.[17] In 2022, four journalists were beaten and threatened by agents linked to the Tajik security service.[14] Radio Ozodi journalists that are arrested in Tajikistan are often subject to torture and forced false confessions.[16][18] Many journalists that report against the government are arrested and sent to prison for terms upwards of 20 years.[16] RFE/RL journalists in Tajikistan are often also held from accreditation for extended periods of time.[13][17] Many Radio Ozodi employees are also subject to attacks on social media.[13][17] RFE/RL websites, including Radio Ozodi, have been blocked in Tajikistan since 2021.[16][19][20] Access has been blocked intermittently since at least 2012.[3][21][22][23]

In 2021, a bipartisan-supported letter was sent to the Tajik government urging them to stop pressure and harassment against RFE/RL journalism in the country.[24]

The service operates out of its offices in Dushanbe, the capital of Tajikistan.[6] However, the headquarters of the service are in Prague, Czechia.[9][16] RFE/RL receives funding from the US Agency for Global Media (USAGM), formerly the Broadcasting Board of Governors, an agency of the US federal government.[1][5] Salimjon Aioubov is the Service Director of Radio Ozodi.[6]

Nominated by RFE/RL, Radio Ozodi won the David Burke Award in 2020 for its journalism.[13]

Radio Ozodi has also been criticised for being too light on Rahmon’s government. In 2019, the US Department of State criticised RFE/RL’s Tajik service for not reporting enough on the Tajik government’s human rights abuses and corruption, and that the Tajik Service is not performing its “watchdog duty” on the government. Radio Ozodi has also been investigated by the State Department for glossing over details that may be potentially embarrassing to the Tajik government or Rahmon in their reporting and using terminology given by the government. The State Department accuses Radio Ozodi of putting the US government in a bad light by simply verifying the Tajik government’s talking points, effectively becoming a mouthpiece for propaganda. However, pieces of reporting too critical of the Tajik government bring scrutiny to RFE/RL and risk having Radio Ozodi lose accreditation and their office in Dushanbe. RFE/RL denies the allegations of bias and skewed reporting towards the Tajik government and investigated Radio Ozodi.[9][15][25]

In 2016, Radio Ozodi struck a deal with Radio Imruz, a radio station owned by Rahmon’s brother-in-law.[9][15] Radio Imruz made editorial demands after the deal was signed, forcing Radio Ozodi to tone down its reporting on the Tajik government.[15] The deal was criticised by the US State Department.[9]

  1. ^ a b c “Рисолати Радиои Озодӣ”. Радиои Озодӣ (in Tajik). Retrieved 2025-12-04.
  2. ^ “Радио Озоди”. Радио Озоди (in Russian). Retrieved 2025-12-04.
  3. ^ a b “Tajikistan Blocks Radio Ozodi Website”. cacianalyst.org. Retrieved 2025-12-05.
  4. ^ “EU politicians make push for Radio Free Europe funding after Trump cuts”. Tajikistan News ASIA-Plus. March 19, 2025. Retrieved 2025-12-05.
  5. ^ a b “RFE/RL: Government ‘Impeding’ It From Functioning In Tajikistan”. Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. 2020-01-22. Retrieved 2025-12-05.
  6. ^ a b c d e “RFE/RL’s Tajik Service”. Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. 2022-05-17. Retrieved 2025-12-04.
  7. ^ a b “Radio Ozodi (Website)”. Harvard Caspiana. Retrieved 4 December 2025.
  8. ^ a b “About us”. Радио Озоди (in Russian). Retrieved 2025-12-05.
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