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...
CATEGORY: Europe and Central Asia

Britain’s press needs a strong public interest defence
The Leveson Inquiry should not forget the need to protect British journalism, says Marta Cooper
UK: receives police warning for Facebook joke about Olympic flame
A woman who joked on Facebook that she planned to squirt the Olympic flame with a water pistol has been issued with a warning by police. Helen Perry posted the joke on a local newspaper page, and was contacted by the police several weeks later. In...
Azerbaijan: Editor claims he was tortured in detention
The lawyer for the editor-in-chief of an Azerbaijani news website has claimed his client was tortured following his arrest. Nijat Aliyev from Islamic news website Azadexber was arrested on 20 May for narcotics charges and put in two months of...

“Norwegian Borat” stripped and ordered to stamp on Iranian flag by Azerbaijan police
If the ignominy of coming last in the Eurovision Song Contest was not enough, Norway suffered a further humiliation when it was alleged that a journalist from their official delegation was threatened, stripped to his underwear and told to stamp on...
Moscow radio host stabbed after “anti-Muslim” comments
Moscow journalist Sergei Aslanyan was stabbed repeatedly earlier this week. Anslanyan, who specialises in motoring and hosts a programme on state Mayak radio station, was attacked on 29 May after a stranger called him and asked to leave...
Russian gay community persecuted
Holding rallies and demonstrations is a right, specified in article 31 of the Russian constitution and one which is regularly abused by Russian authorities. Since 31 July 2009 the opposition has held protests in support of peaceful assembly on the...
Russia: Journalist attacked in Moscow
A Russian journalist has been hospitalised after being stabbed 20 times. Sergei Aslanyan from Radio Mayak, was lured out of his house by an anonymous caller who invited him for a chat at around midnight. The former presenter on Echo...
Eurovision winner Loreen speaks out for human rights as Azerbaijan petition approaches 4,000 signatures
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
Azerbaijan tells Baron Cohen there’s only one dictator in town
Azerbaijani fans of Sacha Baron Cohen are out of luck if they are interested in seeing his latest movie, The Dictator. In the film Baron Cohen plays corrupt dictator Admiral General Aladeen, a character inspired by the late eccentric Libyan...