Posts Tagged ‘Azerbaijan’
June 14th, 2012
On the evening of 13 June, Azerbaijani photojournalist
Mehman Huseynov was released after being detained the previous day. He was arrested after being accused of insulting policemen and charged with “hooliganism”, a
regular tactic used by Azerbaijani authorities to silence critical voices in the country. Huseynov’s arrest, together with the sentencing of
Anar Bayramli on 11 June and the arrest of other political activists, has widely been seen as part of a
renewed clampdown on freedom of expression following the
Eurovision Song Contest on 26 May. The charges against Huseynov remain.
To sign Index on Censorship’s petition to support free expression in Azerbaijan, click here
June 12th, 2012
A journalist and government critic has been
sentenced to two years in prison in
Azerbaijan. Anar Bayramli, a correspondent for two
Iranian media outlets, was sentenced for a drug possession charge following a controversial court case which was said to include contradictory evidence. Bayramli was arrested in February and charged with possession of four grams of heroin. The journalist was previously summoned by police on a number of occasions to disclose his political affiliation. The sentencing comes at a time when tensions between Azerbaijan and neighbouring Iran are particularly heightened.
June 6th, 2012
An Azerbaijani blogger who had spent 15 months in prison for criticising the government was granted an
early release by the supreme court on Monday. Bakhtiyar Hajiyev was arrested in March 2011 after calling on social networks for an anti-government protest, but was convicted and sentenced on a charge of evading military service. He will not be able to travel abroad without special permission for another nine months, until the period of his two-year jail sentence is over.
May 28th, 2012
The landslide winner of the Eurovision Song Contest, Sweden’s Loreen, has thwarted Azerbaijan’s attempts to use the competition to whitewash its record on free speech.
Prior to the competition, the Euphoria singer had met Azerbaijani activists, and was quoted as saying: “Human rights are violated in Azerbaijan every day. One should not be silent about such things.”
On the night of the Eurovision final, there was huge support for Index’s petition on Azerbaijan with tweets from Stephen Fry, Graham Linehan, Owen Jones and Caitlin Moran and political support from Lord Ken MacDonald QC, Icelandic MP Birgitta Jonsdottir and MEPs Edward McMillan-Scott, Richard Howitt, Nessa Childers and David Martin.
The petition is just short of 4000 signatures – if you haven’t signed it – please sign now: Azerbaijanpetition.org
May 25th, 2012
Police in Azerbaijan crack down on protests ahead of the Song Contest. Andrew Connelly reports
(more…)
May 25th, 2012
This atricle originally appeared on Huffington Post UK
As we head towards one more Eurovision final, will a spotlight also be shone onto the serious human rights abuses in Azerbaijan, this year’s host? Or will the Azerbaijani government succeed in burnishing their image and hiding the reality of violence, repression and an increasingly hostile environment for journalists, bloggers, academics, activists and others? (more…)
May 23rd, 2012
This letter appeared in the Financial Times, 23/05/12
For all of us who support and defend freedom of expression and a free press, it is encouraging indeed to see that the ability of governments with bad or dubious human rights records to whitewash their image and promote their international profile through hosting big sports, arts and music events is on the decline. (more…)
May 23rd, 2012
The whereabouts of two
Azerbaijani writers remains unknown, after they were
allegedly kidnapped in Iran. Farid Huseyn and Shahriyar Hajizade were reportedly set upon by eight men in civilian dress as their bus arrived from Tehran into Tabriz, in northwestern Iran on 2 May. Huseyn, from news website 525 and daily newspaper Kaspiy, and Hajizade, who writes about youth issues on social networks, visited Tehran for the presentation of an Iranian edition of Huseyn’s writings. It is believed the pair are being held by Iranian security forces, though no information has been provided by the authorities.
