The International Partnership Group for Azerbaijan (IPGA) — Index on Censorship is a signatory — strongly condemns a series of repressive legislative amendments that Azerbaijan\u2019s National Assembly (Milli Majlis) adopted on 14 May 2013. The amendments were submitted by the prosecutor-general\u2019s office to a parliamentary commission two weeks before and are being enacted in the run-up to October\u2019s Presidential election.<\/p>\n
The existing draconian penalties for criminal defamation and insult have been extended to online content, including Azerbaijan\u2019s vibrant social networks, and public demonstrations. The permitted length of \u201cadministrative\u201d detention \u2013 detention without referring to a court \u2013 is now much greater for many offences.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe amendments seek to ban criticism and increase the cost of dissent. They are designed to silence all those who continue to speak out despite the already and increasingly repressive climate,\u201d the undersigned organisations said.<\/p>\n
\u201cBy extending the offences of criminal defamation and insult to a broader range of public expression, including online expression and public demonstrations, Azerbaijan is breaking the commitments to reform<\/a> made by President Ilham Aliyev and moving against the international trend to decriminalisation. At the same time, the police are given a free hand to administratively detain anyone for up to two months for organising an unauthorised protest or for disobeying them.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWith just months to go to a presidential election in October, the authorities are clearly more determined than ever to intimidate critics of the regime, in particular online. The environment for freedom of expression is declining by the day as journalists, bloggers and opposition activists are subjected to mounting pressure that includes increasingly repressive laws, arrests, physical attacks and smear campaigns.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe international community must, as a matter of urgency, remind the Azerbaijani government of the undertakings it has made to protect the right to freedom of expression, including online, and ensure Azerbaijan implements the legal reforms necessary to meet these commitments.\u201d<\/p>\n Regressive provisions on defamation and insult<\/b><\/p>\n The offences of criminal defamation (article 147 of the penal code) and insult (article 148 of the penal code) have been amended to include expression on the Internet and expression at public demonstrations. The maximum penalties for both offences remain six months imprisonment, although this may be extended to three years imprisonment for aggravated instances of defamation (Article 147.2 of the penal code).<\/p>\n The inclusion of all expression on the Internet broadens the scope of criminal defamation significantly, suggesting that communications on social network sites could give rise to criminal liability. This is particularly concerning since constraints on political activism and a lack of media diversity have made the Internet the main refuge of freedom of expression and political dissent in Azerbaijan.<\/p>\n \u201cThe amendments to the criminal code passed by the parliament are a blatant political move and a shabby attempt to hijack online freedoms amid a mounting pre-election crackdown\u2019, said Emin Huseynov<\/b>, chairman of the Institute for Reporters\u2019 Freedom and Safety (IRFS).<\/p>\n These amendments have again proven what little importance the Azerbaijani government has attached to its pledges to decriminalize defamation. President Aliyev has been undertaking to do this since 2006, and according to the \u201cNational Programme for Reinforcing Human Rights,\u201d adopted in 2011, it should have been done in 2012<\/a>.<\/p>\n These amendments also directly contradict undertakings that Azerbaijan has given to the Council of Europe and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.<\/p>\n Restrictions on right to protest<\/b><\/p>\n The other amendments adopted on 14 May lengthen the permitted period of administrative detention for many offences, including those relating to the expression of dissent. The penalty for \u201corganizing an unauthorized demonstration\u201d (Article 298 of the code on administrative offences), for example, has been increased from 15 to 60 days. The penalty for \u201cdisobeying the police\u201d is increased from 15 to 30 days (Article 310 of the code on administrative offences).<\/p>\n This move further limits the climate for Azerbaijani citizens to exercise their right to freedom of assembly. No protests have been sanctioned in the centre of the capital Baku since 2006, leading many to feel that they have no choice but to participate in unsanctioned protests. In November 2012, amendments were made that exorbitantly increased the administrative fines for those participating or organising unsanctioned protests. For example, the maximum fine for participating in unsanctioned public gatherings was increased from 955 EUR to 7,600 EUR.<\/p>\n In January 2013, the same month the November 2012 amendments came into effect, there was a wave of public protests both in Baku and elsewhere. More than 20 people were issued fines while a number of people were sentenced to several days in administrative detention, including the well-known blogger, Emin Milli<\/strong> (who received the then maximum of 15 days)<\/strong>. <\/b>An opposition leader and potential presidential candidate, Ilgar Mammadov<\/strong>, was arrested on 4 February 2013 after travelling to Ismailli, the site of another recent protest, and was charged with \u201corganising mass disorder\u201d and \u201cviolently resisting police\u201d. He has remained in pre-trial detention ever since and his appeal for bail was denied on 8 April. More than 50 Azerbaijani civil society organisations<\/a> believe Mammadov\u2019s arrest to be politically motivated.<\/p>\n Harassment of the media<\/b><\/p>\n The legislative vice has been tightened at a time when journalists and bloggers are being constantly harassed. Yafez Akramoglu<\/b>, a reporter for Radio Free Europe\/Radio Liberty<\/i>\u2019s (RFE\/RL<\/i>) Azerbaijani-language service reported yesterday that he was threatened by a Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic security official five days ago while reporting on the Nakhchivan diaspora in Istanbul.<\/p>\n RFE\/RL <\/i>issued a public protest a few weeks ago<\/a> about the harassment of two of its journalists, Khadija Ismayilova<\/b> and Yafez Hasanov<\/b>. The intermittent smear campaign against Ismayilova<\/a>\u00a0 resumed at the end of April 2013 with the posting of obscenely doctored photos on a new pro-government propaganda site. Hasanov, who is based in Nakhchivan, has since 4 April been the subject of attempts by the Nakhchivan security services to get him collaborate with them or stop working as a journalist.<\/p>\n The opposition daily Azadlig<\/i>\u2019s main bank account has been blocked again<\/a> since 16 April, after it was ordered to pay astronomic damages for supposedly libelling the Baku subway authority chief. Transport ministry inspectors attacked two Azadlig<\/i> journalists<\/a>, Seymour Khazyev<\/b> and Khalig Garayev<\/b>, while they were doing a report on 27 April.<\/p>\n Tolishi Sado editor Hilal Mammedov<\/b>\u2019s trial<\/a><\/i> is continuing, while Avaz Zeynalli<\/b>, the editor of the newspaper Khural<\/i>, has appealed against a nine-year jail sentence<\/a>. Both are still detained.<\/p>\n Growing pressure on Internet users<\/b><\/p>\n The authorities also clearly have their sights on Internet users. The blogger Reshad Hagigat Agaaddin<\/b>\u2019s family reported that he was arrested on 10 May on a trumped-up charge of possessing drugs.<\/p>\n Agaaddin often posted comments on Facebook calling for justice and freedom, criticizing the government\u2019s anti-religion policies and mocking the president\u2019s plans for a third term, suggesting that he \u201cclearly wants to get into the Guinness Book of Records.\u201d One of his blogs referred to the Aliyev regime as \u201cdevilish.\u201d<\/p>\n