13 October 2005
JOURNALISTS, OPPOSITION ATTACKED AS ELECTIONS NEAR
IFEX members are expressing grave concerns about attacks by Azerbaijani authorities on journalists and demonstrators as the country's citizens prepare to head to the polls in November for parliamentary elections.
Reporters Without Borders (Reporters sans frontières, RSF) says 14 journalists were beaten up by police on 9 October 2005 during a banned demonstration by the Azadliq opposition group in Baku.
Ramiz Nadjafli, editor of the weekly "Boz Gurd", was beaten unconscious and taken to hospital with head injuries. Idrak Abbasov, correspondent of the daily "Ayna-Zerkalo", was also taken to hospital after being attacked by several individuals, including a plain-clothes police officer.
ARTICLE 19 reports six other incidents in which Azerbaijani authorities have sought to quell dissent and muzzle the press. At opposition rallies in Baku on 1 October and 25 September, riot police reportedly beat and arrested hundreds of peaceful demonstrators. Four journalists covering the September rally were also beaten.
On 30 September, authorities closed the regional office of the ANS Broadcasting and Media Company in Shaki, citing a bureaucratic error. ANS is one of the few broadcasters in the country that provides critical news coverage and gives air time to opposition candidates. Its declared aim was to provide special election and voter education programmes in remote parts of the country.
In separate events on 6 and 8 August, a building in Baku housing several opposition media outlets, including the "Azadliq" and "Bizim Yol" newspapers and the TURAN news agency, was attacked by a group of individuals that included plain-clothes policemen and members of the youth wing of the pro-government Yeni Azerbaijan party. The offices of the Confederation of Journalists and the Popular Front of Azerbaijan opposition group were also attacked.
Human Rights Watch says the attacks cast serious doubt on the government's commitment to ensuring free and fair parliamentary elections on 6 November. The organisation has urged Azerbaijan?s international partners, particularly the United States and European Union countries, to forcefully condemn the attacks and threaten to cut off financial assistance if the attacks continue.
Visit:
- RSF:
http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=15244
- ARTICLE 19: http://tinyurl.com/bgosf
- Human Rights Watch: http://hrw.org/english/docs/2005/10/04/azerba11819.htm
- International Press Institute Report: http://www.freemedia.at/wpfr/Europe/azerbaij.htm
- Freedom House: http://tinyurl.com/8dy8x
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