Where is the truth?
From the very beginning I had doubts about the possible death of Hasan Sadulloev, one of the wealthiest and powerful persons in contemporary Tajikistan. First I read the story in Uzmetronom (rus). Actually this dubious website was the first to disseminate the information but I did not expect that it would be picked up by such websites as Eurasianet.com, Fergana.ru (rus), Radio Liberty and subsequently by bloggers. Eurasianet is still speculating on that.
As of today, the page with the news about Hasan’s death at Uzmetronom has been visited 17 thousand times. It is a really big number for such a website. I guess most of the visits were from Tajikistan, but Uzmetronom was not blocked here, otherwise the debates would be full of beans.
Recently after a protracted silence AsiaPlus the biggest independent information agency reported that Hasan Sadulloev is alive (rus) and all the discussions about his death are not more than gossips. However the report was not based on real evidences. It referred to an interview of Radio Ozodi (Radio Liberty) with Sadulloev’s deputy, Umed Davlatzoda.
Officials at Orienbank insist that nothing has happened to Sadulloev, and that the rumors are nothing more than “old ladies gossiping at the marketplace.” At least two officials at the bank told RFE/RL’s Tajik Service that they had seen Sadulloev “just half an hour ago.”
In addition to the interview, AsiaPlus assured everyone that its…
…source [person] close to Hasan says that he is in good health and last week people saw him at the reception in Russian embassy dedicated to the Victory’s Day and also the reception in the embassy of Azerbaijan dedicated to the anniversary of Geidar Aliev.
The fact that today the news about Hasan is the mostly discussed news in Tajikistan is also proved by the visit counter at AsiaPlus. The story “The head of Orienbank is alive” has already been visited by more than 1,400 people, though it went live several days ago.
Well, I hope that Hasan is alive, because the death of such person does not remain without consequences. However, I think that this information was disseminated against the information about Talco and the legal fees for the proceedings in order to destabilize the political situation in the country. Since Hasan is one of the main actors in this process, the story about his death would be an excellent accelerator in political destabilization.
on May 18th, 2008 at 2:04 pm
I appreciate your skepticism, Vadim, and thank you for the link–however, I don’t understand why we need to rely on “sources close to Sadullayev.” The easiest thing in the world would be to have him go on television and hold up today’s edition of Asia Plus or some other newspaper. That would put an end to the speculation.
The fact that there is almost no online reporting of this from inside TJ, except for these weak denials, indicates to me that some facts are being suppressed. The fact that they haven’t shown a verifiable video of Sadullayev indicates to me that they probably can’t produce one.
In any case, whether he’s alive or dead, that Sadullayev hasn’t appeared in public recently shows that his star has fallen, which is a very significant thing in and of itself.
on May 23rd, 2008 at 9:39 am
AliG it’s not fair to make such provocative statements under a nick. Your comment was moderated.
Those who want to read AliG’s comment send me a message.
on May 23rd, 2008 at 6:51 pm
not fair?….provocative?…
Last time I checked we still have Freedom of Speech in our Constitution…though not practiced…
Anyways, if you think that’s provocative…You’ll Never Find Truth!?!
on May 23rd, 2008 at 6:52 pm
I see there are 5 responses…I only see two…why is that?
on May 25th, 2008 at 11:57 am
AliG, it counts also the trackbacks (the red boxes below the comments).