29 May 2007

Alert

Fifteen journalists seek political asylum in protest against closure of newspapers


Incident details

Uzeir Jafarov

harassed

This is available in:

English Français
(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders today condemned the constant government harassment of opposition media, which has led 15 journalists working for two daily newspapers, the Azerbaijani-language "Gundelik Azerbaijan" and the Russian-language "Realny Azerbaijan", to seek political asylum between 25 and 29 May 2007 after their newspapers were closed the week before. Fearing for his safety, the editor of the newspaper "Nota Bene" has also requested asylum.

"First the offices of 'Gundelik Azerbaijan' and 'Realny Azerbaijan' were shut down for alleged fire safety violations, then on 26 May, the owner of their premises suddenly rescinded their lease, forcing them to vacate immediately," Reporters Without Borders said. "They would have us believe this is just a coincidence. These are the methods of an authoritarian regime."

The press freedom organisation added: "If President Ilham Aliev wants to protect the press, he should help these two daily newspapers find new premises. The 41 employees and contributors to these newspapers are now without any source of income; some of them feel threatened and the country's press is all the poorer."

The 14 "Gundelik Azerbaijan" and "Realny Azerbaijan" journalists submitted their political asylum requests to the US, German, British and Norwegian embassies and the office of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). They include "Gundelik Azerbaijan" editor Uzeir Jafarov, who said they were seeking asylum because of prosecution, and because arrests and attacks made it impossible for them to work as journalists.

Jafarov was attacked and beaten on 20 April after giving evidence at the trial of Eynulla Fatullaev, the founder of "Gundelik Azerbaijan" and "Realny Azerbaijan", who received a 30-month prison sentence the same day for "defaming" and "insulting" Azerbaijanis in an article about Armenia.

The satirical website http://www.tinsohbeti.com , whose editor, Habib Muntezir, is based in Germany, has meanwhile become inaccessible again since 21 May because of a hacker attack on the host server of Site5 server. Muntezir is convinced the attack was deliberately targeted. It is not the first time the site has been attacked.



Source:

Reporters Without Borders
47, rue Vivienne
75002 Paris
France
rsf (@) rsf.org
Phone: +33 1 44 83 84 84
Fax: +33 1 45 23 11 51
 

Stay on top of free expression news.

Sign up to receive the weekly IFEX Communiqué.


More on this case

Journalist Eynulla Fatullayev granted amnesty in honour of 28 May holiday 27 May 2011 Joint appeal to UNESCO director-general over Fatullayev case 4 May 2011 Government claims to have complied with ECHR judgment on Fatullayev case 4 May 2011 "Fifty Fatullayevs" outside London Embassy demand release of jailed Azerbaijani journalist 19 April 2011 Family of imprisoned journalist receives threatening phone call 13 April 2011 CPJ concerned about Fatullayev's safety, calls for his release 23 March 2011 Council of Europe Committee of Ministers must demand journalist's release, says International Partnership Group for Azerbaijan 2 March 2011 Fatullayev fears for his safety in prison 11 February 2011 Baku Appeals Court denies Fatullayev's appeal, defies ECHR ruling 3 February 2011 Supreme Court rejects imprisoned editor's appeal 3 January 2011 Council of Europe Committee calls on government to release Eynulla Fatullayev 8 December 2010 Fatullayev's fate lies with the Council of Europe Committee of Ministers, says ARTICLE 19 6 December 2010 Editor Eynulla Fatullayev remains jailed despite ECHR call for his release 12 November 2010 In latest humiliation, newspaper editor appears in court inside cage 8 November 2010 Send a letter in support of jailed editor 29 October 2010 Joint letter calls for newspaper editor's release 28 October 2010 ECHR upholds decision on release of Eynulla Fatullayev 21 October 2010 Authorities say imprisoned journalist will not be freed regardless of appeal outcome 22 July 2010 Imprisoned editor sentenced to an additional two and a half years in prison 7 July 2010 IRFS appeals to president as imprisoned editor starts hunger strike 7 June 2010 Comply with European Court decision on case of imprisoned journalist, ARTICLE 19, International PEN urge 19 May 2010 Authorities urged to comply with ECHR order and release editor Eynulla Fatullayev 23 April 2010 European Court of Human Rights orders journalist's release 23 April 2010 Eynulla Fatullayev's appeal rejected 18 March 2010 Eynulla Fatullayev and family threatened 18 March 2010 Imprisoned editor concerned over possible threat to his life 3 March 2010 Editor's detention prolonged by two more months 1 March 2010 CPJ delegation calls for Eynulla Fatullayev's release 22 January 2010 Editor to be tried on new charge, sentenced to two months' detention in isolation unit 6 January 2010 Authorities trump up new charge against award-winning editor Eynulla Fatullayev 31 December 2009 Detained journalist harassed in prison 27 October 2008 Supreme Court upholds editor's conviction 4 June 2008 Imprisoned editor starts hunger strike to protest jailing of journalists 26 March 2008 Appeals court upholds conviction of critical editor 17 January 2008 Outspoken editor Eynulla Fatullayev sentenced to eight and a half years in prison 30 October 2007 Supreme Court upholds editor's prison sentence 27 August 2007 New terrorism charge brought against opposition editor already serving 30-month sentence for defamation 6 July 2007 Imprisoned editor Eynulla Fatullayev receives death threats, inhumane treatment; his conviction confirmed 8 June 2007 Imprisoned editor Eynulla Fatullayev charged with terrorism; his home searched, his newspaper's computers, documents confiscated 24 May 2007 Imprisoned editor target of death threat; two newspapers evicted amid media harassment campaign 22 May 2007 Editor of critical newspaper brutally beaten after protesting conviction of colleague 24 April 2007 Embattled editor jailed for libel and insult over article he denies writing 23 April 2007

Azerbaijan

Newspapers fined for "damaging honour" of businessman 24 January 2012 Youth activist's appeal rejected 29 December 2011 Jabbar Savalanli released under pardon decree 29 December 2011 Journalists assaulted while covering president's birthday celebration 29 December 2011 Editor of "Yeni Musavat" receives death threats for republishing article 22 December 2011 See all alerts: Azerbaijan


 
The International Freedom of Expression eXchange (IFEX) is a global network of 95 organisations working to defend and promote the right to free expression.
Permission is granted for material on this website to be reproduced or republished in whole or in part provided the source member and/or IFEX is cited with a link to the original item.