VZCZCXRO2596
RR RUEHLN RUEHSK RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHDBU #0143/01 0351136
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 041136Z FEB 09
FM AMEMBASSY DUSHANBE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 1448
INFO RUCNCIS/CIS COLLECTIVE
RUEHBUL/AMEMBASSY KABUL 0417

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 DUSHANBE 000143 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR SCA and PA/PR/FPCW 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM KPAO KDEM TI
SUBJECT: TAJIKISTAN - FEB 11 HEARING ON RFE/RL TAX BILL 
 
Ref: A)  08 Dushanbe 1246  B) Dushanbe 44 
 
¶1. (U) Sensitive But Unclassified - Not for Internet Distribution. 
 
¶2. (SBU) Summary: On February 11 the Economic Court in Dushanbe will 
hold a hearing regarding $110,000 in unpaid taxes that Tajikistan's 
tax committee alleges are owed by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty's 
(RFE/RL) Tajikistan bureau.  Although the committee had threatened 
to seize the station's bank assets and operating equipment if the 
fine were not paid by January 30, as of February 2, no one had 
carried out the threat.  The Ambassador told RFE/RL President Jeff 
Gedmin January 23 that the embassy is ready to raise the issue with 
the MFA if necessary to ask for a transparent and early court 
action.  RFE/RL local lawyers believe the charge has no merit, and 
RFE/RL management plans to appeal if the judge rules against the 
local bureau.  End summary. 
 
RFE/RL TO HAVE ITS DAY IN COURT 
------------------------------- 
 
¶3. (SBU) On February 11 the Economic Court in Dushanbe will hold a 
hearing regarding $110,000 in unpaid taxes that Tajikistan's tax 
committee alleges are owed by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty's 
(RFE/RL) Tajikistan bureau.  In a conversation January 28 with Abbas 
Djavadi, RFE/RL's Associate Director of Broadcasting, Djavadi told 
PAO that RFE/RL's lawyers believe the charge has no merit, but if 
the judge ruled against RFE/RL, the station would appeal. 
 
¶4. (SBU) The tax committee sent a letter to the station dated 
January 20 threatening to seize the station's bank assets and 
operating equipment if the fine were not paid by January 30.  When 
PAO phoned Tajik bureau chief Mirzonabi Kholiqzoda February 2 to 
ascertain the court date, he said that no one had carried out the 
threat.  RFE/RL's legal counsel advised that threatening to penalize 
the station before the court decision is against Tajik law and may 
explain why the tax authority did not act on its threat. 
 
¶5. (SBU) In a telephone conversation January 23 with RFE/RL 
President Jeff Gedmin, the Ambassador said the embassy was ready to 
raise the issue with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and ask for a 
transparent and early court action, if and when RFE/RL thought that 
higher level intervention might be helpful.  The Ambassador noted 
that RFE/RL might have to pay the fine, because hiring practices for 
part time reporters at the local station had not been in compliance 
with Tajik labor law. 
 
AUDIT TRAIL LEADS TO CONTROVERSIAL FREELANCE CONTRACTS 
--------------------------------------------- --------- 
 
¶6. (SBU) In email and telephone correspondence with emboff, RFE/RL 
managers said that a tax inspector assessed the fine on August 29, 
2008, after an audit of the station's books going back three years. 
During that time the station employed some reporters under freelance 
contracts.  RFE/RL representatives said that the freelancers were 
responsible for paying their own taxes, which was explicitly stated 
in their contracts and confirmed by a local law firm that reviewed 
the Tajik bureau's legal and taxation compliance in 2006.  RFE/RL 
reps said that the tax inspector in August still charged the station 
for $110,000 in taxes not paid by the freelance reporters. 
Moreover, because the amount exceeded 100,000 Tajik somoni 
($29,000), the case triggered a review from the Tajik 
anti-corruption agency, and that entity has threatened three current 
or former RFE/RL employees with fines and even prison sentences for 
their alleged complicity in the station's failure to pay the taxes. 
 
¶7. (SBU) After lawsuits filed in July by former reporters about 
Q7. (SBU) After lawsuits filed in July by former reporters about 
unfair benefits for part time employees (see reftel), the station 
concluded contracts in compliance with the local labor code.  The 
last of the plaintiffs, former reporter Sayofi Mizrob (Saifuddin 
Dostiev), had demanded $145,000 for being underpaid for 12 years, 
but settled for $1,500 on October 31. 
 
IS THE GOVERNMENT TRYING TO SHUT DOWN RFE/RL OR NOT? 
--------------------------------------------- ------- 
 
¶8. (SBU) RFE/RL representatives believe the case is part of a 
pattern of harassment because the government does not want RFE/RL 
publicizing the problems facing Tajik society, including government 
corruption.  RFE/RL president Jeff Gedmin told the Ambassador that 
that the government was trying to accomplish through legal maneuvers 
"what it could not do directly for optical reasons - shut us down." 
Sojida Djakhfarova, acting director of RFE/RL's Tajik service, told 
emboff on February 3 about a "two or three hour meeting" she had 
with Foreign Minister Zamrahon Zarifi in Dushanbe in November.  She 
said he was very familiar with RFE/RL's website and complained about 
the stories posted there.  When she defended the station's 
dedication to reporting news, she said he told her he had spent time 
in the United States and understood the necessity for free media and 
assured her the tax audit "was not political."  She told emboff that 
 
 
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