Turkmenistan - Country's first media law starts life as dead letter

Reporters without borders

The first media law in the history of Turkmenistan came into effect on 4 January. In principle, it proclaims freedom of expression and bans censorship but it has so far done nothing to narrow the gulf between the official discourse and the reality of one of the world's most closed and repressive countries. “The reign of the arbitrary has prevailed until now in the media domain so the existence of a law is a small step forward but much will have to change before its principles and provisions (...)

© Reporters sans frontières - mercredi 9 janvier 2013