On 12 March, Avaz Zeynalli, editor of independent newspaper Hural, was sentenced to nine years in prison for alleged bribery. The journalist pleaded not guilty, and has claimed that the charges brought against him were connected to his work. According to the Baku-based Institute for Reporters’ Freedom and Safety, six more journalists critical of the ruling regime have faced false charges — ranging from possession of drugs to high treason.

Impunity is still a problem: those responsible for the murders of journalists Elmar Huseynov (2005) and Rafiq Tagi (2011) have yet to be found or tried. Well-known Azerbaijani journalist Chingiz Sultansoy told Index:

Impunity has affected the work of all journalists in Azerbaijan for years. The recent cases show that people who attack reporters feel permissiveness and have no fear of punishment for violence. It was the case with brutal attacks on Hadiza Ismail, one of the best investigative journalists in Azerbaijan, or Rashad Zustamov, a reporter for Zerkalo newspaper, who conducted his investigations in the provinces.

Azerbaijani journalist Elmar Huseynov was murdered in 2005

The independent press has faced economic discrimination, as authorities regularly pressure advertisers not to sell ads in these papers; critical newspapers are kept away from press distribution networks, which are controlled by state officials.

“The further pressure aims to completely stifle the free press and restrict media freedom in the country. The regime has not been able to completely destroy the independent media, only because of several courageous media outlets and reporters who continue their work selflessly,” Ganimat Zahid, the editor-in-chief of Azadliq (“Freedom”) newspaper, says.

“Ministers continue filing suits against the press and claim huge compensations and fines in libel cases in order to bankrupt newspapers. As the authorities are aware their real electoral support is low, they try to tighten the screws and restrict people’s rights and freedoms, especially freedom of expression,” Natig Dzhafarli, an executive secretary of REAL movement, says.

Television remains an important source of information for the population of the country. Most of the nine national TV channels are either directly owned by the state or controlled by the authorities. Audiences are inundated with state propaganda, even through channels that offer no direct coverage of current events or political news. For instance, commentators on a state sports channel often forget to comment on a sports event they broadcast — and instead praise President Ilham Aliyev for “the great attention” he pays to development of sports in the country.

“There is no independent television in Azerbaijan. Even the Public TV that is supposed to be a public service broadcaster serves the government. The only alternative TV is ‘Azerbaijani Time’, broadcast from Turkey,” says Shahvalad Chobanoglu, a journalist and critic of the government.

While the authorities keep almost total control over the traditional media, social networks have become an important platform for free expression. Facebook is one of the most popular sites used. According to blogger Ali Novruzov, social media will play a significant role during the election campaign, as IT remains the only free channels of information in Azerbaijan — and it certainly keeps the regime wary.

Several activists have been arrested for their protest activities on social networks. In public statements, high-ranking officials aggressively attack social media, calling it a “harmful phenomenon”. Fazail Agamaly, an Azerbaijani MP, publicly called for access to social networking websites in Azerbaijan to be blocked during a speech in Milli Majlis, the country’s parliament.

According to Turgut Gambar from the Nida Civic Movement, there has been a “wave of unprecedented attacks” against recent pro-democracy protests organised by Azerbaijani youth. On 3 April, Nida reported that seven of its members are currently imprisoned and are being held in prison for three months in pre-trial custody. They include activists Shahin Novruzlu, Mammad Azizov and Bakhtiyar Guliyev, arrested on 7 March for alleged possession of drugs and molotov cocktails; NIDA board members Mammad Azizov, Rashad Hasanov Rashadat Akhundov and Uzeyir Mammadli, arrested on 7 March, 14 March and 30 March; and blogger and activist Zaur Gurbanli, arrested on 1 April.

The war declared by the regime on social media became more serious after street protests — organised by young people through Facebook — on 10 March .

Hundreds of protesters gathered in Azerbaijan’s capital on 10 March

On the same day, Eynulla Fatullayev, the editor of haqqın.az website and a former political prisoner, published an investigation accusing the head of a local branch of National Democratic Institute (NDI), Alex Grigorievs, of sponsoring $2 million to the “Facebook revolution”, as the event has already been dubbed. Grigorievs has denied this, and Fatullayev’s colleagues have accused him of “turning pro-government”.

Azerbaijani authorities took the report seriously: not only was this reflected in the number of activists detained, but also in its decision to support those using social networks to show their allegiance to the government. On 16 March, president Ilham Aliyev allocated 5 million Azerbaijani manats (about £4.2 million) to fund activities of pro-governmental youth organisations in social networks.

But the blogger Ali Novruzov believes the authorities will not be able to coerce opinion on social media:

The government does not control the internet and is not really able to; this is why they are afraid of new technologies and are paranoid about ‘Facebook revolutions’ and alleged millions spent on mobilising the youth in social networks. The regime understands that with one million Azerbaijanis being on Facebook and able to impart and receive uncensored information, it will be difficult to implement their election scenario.

Idrak Abbasov is a journalist from Azerbaijan and a 2012 Index Award winner

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On 18 April, Index award-winner Idrak Abbasov was brutally attacked while he reported on the demolition of houses in his village. Rebecca Vincent recently visited him at his home outside Baku

Winding up the bumpy road towards Azerbaijani journalist Idrak Abbasov’s home in a hilltop village on the outskirts of Baku, I couldn’t help but think back to the last time I saw him. Just six weeks ago, we met in London at the Index on Censorship Freedom of Expression Awards, where he won the Guardian Journalism Award.

Deeply touched by the honour, Idrak dedicated most of his acceptance speech to the plight of his colleagues who had been arrested, blackmailed or killed in connection with criticising the authorities. “In Azerbaijan”, he said, “telling the truth can cost a journalist their life”.

Idrak’s words seem ominous now. Three weeks later he was badly beaten by a group of employees of the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR) while filming the demolition of houses in his village. Idrak was hospitalised as the result of his serious injuries.

On 8 May, recovering at his home surrounded by his family, Idrak recounted the 18 April attack. “They weren’t just beating me,” he told me, “they were trying to kill me.”

The group of SOCAR employees responsible for the attack was familiar with Idrak and his work, as he had been documenting their demolition of homes in the area for months. He showed me video footage of earlier interviews with local residents who had been forcibly evicted by the SOCAR workers, some of whom had been severely beaten in the process.

Clearly still in significant pain three weeks after the attack, Idrak was having trouble sitting up. He said he was continuing to receive medical treatment at home for broken and fractured ribs, damage to his internal organs and injuries to his eyes.

Despite not being able to walk or see well, Idrak was continuing to do what work he could from home. “I have to work,” he said, “I’m a journalist. And I have three children to support.” But he believed it would be another two or three months before he could resume his normal level of activity. In the meantime, he feared the situation would become worse for other journalists.

His children seemed to be a major source of motivation for Idrak in his work as a journalist. “I want them to live in a good situation, in a good country,” he said. For some time, Idrak’s family have been facing tremendous pressure, including vandalism to their home and car. When Binagadi Oil Company attempted to demolish his home in September 2011, several of his relatives were physically attacked as they intervened.

Idrak was grateful for the international support he has received, which he believed made a difference in how has been treated. “Without international support, it would have been worse. Maybe the Index on Censorship award kept me from getting killed,” he said.

Although Idrak thought international pressure on the authorities might help move the investigation forward, he did not have high hopes that there would ever be justice in his case. “Azerbaijan is not a country that respects the rule of law,” he said.

The attack against Idrak is one of many recent examples of the alarming freedom of expression situation in Azerbaijan, where authorities seem determined to silence critical voices in the run-up to the Eurovision Song Contest, which will take place later this month in Baku. Local journalists and activists fear further such attacks in retaliation for criticism following Eurovision once the international media’s interest in Azerbaijan has waned.

Rebecca Vincent is a freelance human rights consultant and expert on freedom of expression in Azerbaijan

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The first photos of Idrak Abbasov were met with confusion and fear. The well-known Azerbaijani journalist was lying unconscious on the ground, his right eye swollen and black, his face bloodied. He was still wearing his luminous yellow press jacket. Later photos showed him in hospital, where he lay unconscious for close to six hours.

Abbasov is still in hospital, suffering two broken ribs, three fractured ribs, cranial trauma, and damage to his right eye. One week on from his attack, his vision is blurred and the full extent of his head trauma remains unknown. He will not be discharged for at least another two weeks.

Less than a month ago, Abbasov was in London, collecting the Index on Censorship award for investigative journalism. Reflecting on the increasing restrictions on Azerbaijan’s struggling independent media, Idrak acknowledged that “For the sake of this right [to the truth] we accept that our lives are in danger, as are the lives of our families”.

On his return to Baku, he continued his work, heading out on 18 April  to film the second round of demolition work in a residential area close to one of Baku’s numerous oilfields. Behind the demolition is the powerful state oil company SOCAR, which says the housing is illegal; the residents say they bought the land in good faith. When Abbasov began filming, SOCAR employees violently assaulted him. According to eyewitnesses the police looked on.

The other journalists at the demolitions, including Gunay Musayeva of Yeni Musavat newspaper and two cameramen for local media freedom NGO the Institute for Reporters’ Freedom and Safety (IRFS), have spoken about the chaos at the scene. Musayeva was also attacked by guards but did not require hospitalisation; the taxi the cameramen arrived in had its windscreen broken, but the men inside were unhurt.

Abbasov was visited in hospital yesterday (25 April) by a group of SOCAR officials, who told him they would be leading an investigation into the incident – the Binagady Police Department has also launched a criminal case based on charges of hooliganism, to which Abbasov objects. “This wasn’t hooliganism; this is an Article 163 case, obstruction of the lawful activities of a journalist.”

A statement issued by the local EU delegation in response to Abbasov’s assault declared the incident “yet another example of unacceptable pressure [to which] journalists in Azerbaijan are exposed”.

This brutal attack comes as members of the international press are applying for visas to come to Baku for the upcoming Eurovision Song Contest in May. The Azerbaijani Prime Minister has promised Eurovision organisers that international journalists will be free to carry out their work; the day before the SOCAR incident, President Ilham Aliyev himself declared to the Cabinet of Ministers that freedom of expression in Azerbaijan is guaranteed.

The day after the incident, the Ministry of Internal Affairs released a statement reporting that “200-250 residents of the settlement beat and injured [SOCAR] employees”, naming Abbasov as “a local resident”. The Azerbaijani Human Rights Ombudsman also visited him in hospital, and has called for a full and objective investigation. In a separate press release, the Presidential Administration condemned the violence, but deemed it unrelated to Abbasov’s professional activity. The Department Chief there supported statements by SOCAR claiming that the journalists had not been wearing press jackets – in the face of photo evidence to the contrary – and finished with a warning to media representatives: “journalists covering such actions must wear special clothes, [and] must not interfere in the process.”

Amidst these competing versions of events, the president’s confident assurances remain largely at odds with an often hostile reality, and international journalists are advised to be vigilant about their personal security, as well as the safety of any local staff – fixers, drivers, and so on – with whom they are working.

When asked, Abbasov said that his attack should not deter the international media from covering the event. Emin Huseynov, Chairman of IRFS, one of Abbasov’s employers, echoed his advice:

Write about Eurovision. But be aware there is a darker, sadder story behind the shiny buildings and expensive shops that will continue when the singing is over.

With seven journalists already in jail and the dust only just settling following the high profile attempted blackmail of leading investigative reporter Khadija Ismayilova, independent media outlets and NGOs are starting to worry about what will happen after Eurovision, once Azerbaijan is no longer under the international spotlight. Many fear that there will be a backlash against all those who have spoken out against human rights and free expression violations – and that once Eurovision is over, Azerbaijan will drop off the international agenda.

Celia Davies is Program Development Manager at the Institute for Reporters’ Freedom and Safety in Baku, Azerbaijan

The International Partnership Group for Azerbaijan (IPGA), a group of NGOs —including Index — working on free expression, wrote an open letter to President Aliyev following last week’s attacks

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Azerbaijani journalist and Index award-winner Idrak Abbasov was brutally assaulted today.

Idrak Abbasov was filming the demolition of a house by the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR) in the village of Sulutapa. His brother told reporters that several SOCAR employees grabbed the journalist’s camera and started kicking him. “He was covered in blood, his head was broken, and one eye was fully closed. I ran up and tried to protect Idrak, but they started beating me,” Roman Abbasov said, adding that he took his brother to hospital after police blocked doctors from reaching their home.

Index understands that other reporters were present at the scene but Abbasov was singled out by his attackers. When Reporters from the Institute for Reporters’ Freedom and Safety (IRFS) later attempted to travel to the scene to document the attacks, their taxi was pulled over by SOCAR employees and the journalists and their taxi driver were beaten.

Abbasov is believed to have suffered rib fractures and concussion. His family are awaiting news on damage to his internal organs.

Kirsty Hughes, Index’s chief executive urged the Azerbaijan government to launch a full, transparent and independent investigation into the brutal attacks against Abbasov, his brother and colleagues. She said:

Idrak Abbasov was awarded the Guardian journalism prize at the Index on Censorship free expression awards for his brave reporting and for standing up to state intimidation in Azerbaijan. This attack against him and other journalists is truly horrific. The fact that police were present and failed to intervene reveals the level of hostility against journalists and activists among Azerbaijan’s authorities.

“In Azerbaijan, where I have come from, telling the truth can cost a journalist their life,” he said upon receiving the award last month.

On 9 September 2011, after Abbasov investigated the activities of a local oil company, SOCAR sent bulldozers to his family’s home and claimed ownership of the site as part of a project to develop local oil resources with Global Energy Azerbaijan Ltd. His parents and brother were hospitalised after being attacked by the company’s security service during the incident.

One assailant reportedly said: “Tell Idrak to get smarter, or we will cut off his ears.”

It is believed that bulldozers targeted Abbasov’s home because of his work monitoring human rights. The journalist, one of IRFS’ founding members, reports for newspaper Ayna-Zerkalo and contributes to the Institute for War & Peace Reporting.

Listing the threats of detention and harassment Azerbaijani journalists face, Abbasov said at the Index awards:

This is the price that my colleagues in Azerbaijan are paying for the right of the Azerbaijani people to know the truth about what is happening in their country. For the sake of this right we accept that our lives are in danger, as are the lives of our families. But the goal is worth it, since the right to truth is worth more than a life without truth.

Index’s recent report on  Azerbaijan’s record on free speech, Silenced Voices, is available here.

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Investigative reporter Khadija Ismayilova was among journalists and free expression advocates at the Frontline Club yesterday discussing the deteriorating situation for freedom of expression and human rights in Azerbaijan in the run up the Eurovision Song Contest — and to highlight the importance of keeping up pressure on the government after one of the biggest pop events of the year has passed.

The press event, which highlighted violence against critical voices and the government’s aggressive progamme of urban redevelopment, coincided with the publication of the International Partnership Group for Azerbaijan‘s (IPGA)’s report Running Scared: Azerbaijan’s Silenced Voices, a joint report by Index on Censorship, ARTICLE 19, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and other campaigning and press freedom organisations.

Ismayilova, who spoke about the recent blackmailing campaign against her, widely accepted to be retaliation for her investigative journalism into corruption, was one of the panellists. On 7 March, Ismayilova was threatened in the most conventional of ways — she received a collection of intimate photographs through the post, with a note warning her to “behave” or she would be “defamed”. But authorities seriously miscalculated both her response and those of her family members.

They assumed, said Ismayilova, that, like some other journalists who have suffered similar blackmail campaigns,  she would bow to pressure and temper her reports. But Ismayilova went public with her story.  Days later, on 14 March 2012, an intimate video of Ismayilova filmed by a hidden camera was posted to the internet.

Exposing Ismayilova in this way was particularly vicious, as honour killings still take place in Azerbaijan and the authorities would have been well aware that Ismayilova’s life could potentially be in serious danger. Ismayilova demanded an immediate investigation.

In They Took Everything From Me, Human Rights Watch documents how residents have been forcibly evicted without reasonable notice and chronicles the demolition of homes. Senior Researcher for the organisation’s Europe and Central Asia Division Giorgi Gogai said the government had denied any residential properties had been destroyed to make way for Eurovision-related building work.

Media expert Vugar Gojayev spoke about the ways in which political life has shrunk in Azerbaijan, made worse by last year’s closure of the Human Rights House in Baku – the centre had been an important place for writers and civil society activists to meet. Outside the capital, things are worse. There are no opposition newspapers or opposition parties and most public gatherings are banned.

Azerbaijan works hard to present itself as a modern, democratic country with excellent business opportunities for multinational corporations. But recent attacks against journalists and activists reveal a government unwilling to hear the voices of its people: there are approximately 60 political prisoners in the country at the moment.

The IPGA’s report also examines the significant gap between the image the government is trying to promote and the situation on the ground and Index’s Head of Advocacy Mike Harris examines how the Azerbaijani government strives to influence opinion not only among the international business community but also, crucially, at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), the political branch of the Council of Europe.

On Wednesday, Index’s Freedom of Expression Awards celebrates journalists, activists, innovators and artists working on the frontline for free speech.

Azerbaijani journalist Idrak Abbasov, who has reported on the activities of an Azerbaijani oil company and whose home was targeted in retaliation, is on the shortlist for the journalism awards.

Click here to download the report and to read more about the free expression crisis in Azerbaijan

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