Famous TV anchor jailed in Tajikistan
DUSHANBE. March 18 (Interfax) - A court in Dushanbe has sentenced Muattara Dzhurayeva, a famous TV anchor in Tajikistan, to six years in prison on fraud charges.
"Dzhurayeva was sentenced to nine years in prison but since she had committed the crime before the adoption of law on amnesty, her prison term was cut by three years," judge Safarbek Nuralizoda, who presided at the trial, told journalists on Wednesday.
The TV anchor was charged with a large-scale fraud. Profiting from her reputation, she made several large debts and did not pay them off.
Dzhurayeva asked the court to release her, promising that if she works she will be able to gradually pay off the debts. The court, however, reject her motion.
Dzhurayeva, 39, started to work with the Shabakkai Avval (Channel One) TV channel in 2000. First she was a news reader, then she started her own TV program in which she made interviews with famous people in Tajikistan.
She ran for parliament in 2005, but since she was at the bottom of the party list she did not get a seat in the parliament. Dzhurayeva then quit journalism and started a business.
