7 July 2004
DEFAMATION CASE DROPPED AFTER WORLDWIDE OUTCRY
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) and other IFEX members were pleased to learn this week that criminal charges against a journalist who criticised the mayor of Azerbaijan's capital, Baku, have been dropped following international pressure.
On 23 June 2004, Hajibala Abutalibov officially withdrew charges against Azeri journalist Irada Huseynova, barely a week after CPJ held a press conference in Baku urging the government of Azerbaijan to end the repression of independent media. In early June, CPJ had also written a letter to the government calling for the charges against Huseynova to be dropped (see: http://www.cpj.org/protests/04ltrs/Azer02june04pl.html).
Huseynova had been invited to the 11th IFEX General Meeting in Baku, which took place 13-18 June, but could not attend because of the lawsuit. In response, 22 IFEX members signed a joint statement in support of Huseynova (see: http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/59765).
The charges against Huseynova stemmed from an article she wrote in June 2001 in which she criticised Abutalibov for closing tram lines and shutting down commercial kiosks in Baku while spending public funds on water fountains during a water shortage.
CPJ continues to call on the Azeri government to decriminalise libel.
Visit these links:
- CPJ: http://www.cpj.org/news/2004/Azer01july04na.html
- IFEX Alerts on Azerbaijan: http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/179/
- Center for Journalism in Extreme Situations: http://www.cjes.ru/index-e.php
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