17 January 2008

Alert

Appeals court upholds conviction of critical editor


Incident details

Eynulla Fatullayev

editor(s)

(CPJ/IFEX) - The following is a 16 January 2008 CPJ press release:

AZERBAIJAN: Appeals court upholds verdict in Fatullayev case

New York, January 16, 2008 - The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns an Azerbaijani appellate court's decision today to uphold the 2007 conviction of Eynulla Fatullayev, editor of the independent Russian-language weekly Realny Azerbaijan and the Azeri-language daily Gündalik Azarbaycan.

Fatullayev was convicted in October 2007 on charges of terrorism, incitement of ethnic hatred, and tax evasion, and he was sentenced to eight and a half years in prison. CPJ research shows that the government's charges were not substantiated and were instead motivated by his reporting. A well-known government critic, Fatullayev had recently questioned the integrity of the state's investigation into the 2005 murder of another Azerbaijani editor.

"We're deeply disappointed by today's politicized ruling, which ignored Fatullayev's appeal and left him in prison," said CPJ Executive Director Joel Simon. "We call on the Supreme Court of Azerbaijan to annul the verdict and release our colleague."

An appellate court panel in Baku issued the ruling; initial reports did not detail the basis for the ruling. Fatullayev had filed the appeal in November 2007, and hearings began the following month. Fatullayev told the appellate judges that the case against him had been "fabricated on an order from above."

Defense lawyer Isakhan Ashurov told CPJ that he will take the case now to the Azerbaijani Supreme Court. He said the appellate court "ignored the facts we presented" and simply "rubberstamped" the October verdict. The Baku-based Institute for Reporters' Freedom and Safety said that authorities allowed the public to observe the appellate proceedings; state television filmed the proceedings, although other groups were not allowed to do so.

Authorities targeted Fatullayev in a series of politically motivated criminal prosecutions in 2007. The persecution began shortly after Fatullayev published an in-depth report alleging an official cover-up in the 2005 slaying of fellow Azerbaijani editor Elmar Huseynov.

CPJ is a New York-based, independent, nonprofit organization that works to safeguard press freedom worldwide. For more information, visit http://www.cpj.org



Source:

Committee to Protect Journalists
330 7th Ave., 11th Floor
New York, NY 10001
USA
info (@) cpj.org
Phone: +1 212 465 1004
Fax: +1 212 465 9568
 

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 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 Fifteen journalists seek political asylum in protest against closure of newspapers 29 May 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.