Abduqayum Qayumov banned from reporting
RFE/RL’s Tajik Service, Radio Ozodi was targeted by an Internet blackout that included its website and Facebook. In addition to the Internet outage, Abduqayum Qayumov, a parliamentary correspondent since 2001, has been banned from reporting, the result of a refusal by the country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs to honor a routine request to accredit him. Authorities provided no official explanation of the decision, which bans Qayumov from working for the service, and serves as a warning to other RFE/RL journalists.