23 Jan 19 | Campaigns -- Featured, Statements
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Index on Censorship welcomes reports that new criminal charges against Azerbaijani journalist and human rights defender Mehman Huseynov have been dropped.
Mehman Huseynov is short-listed for the Index Freedom of Expression Awards 2019 in the journalism category “for courageous, high-impact and determined journalism that exposes censorship and threats to free expression”.
However, he remains in prison on a previous conviction, widely seen as politically motivated. International organisations continue to call for his release.
Jodie Ginsberg, CEO of Index on Censorship said “Index is pleased that the new charges against Mehman Huseynov have reportedly been dropped, but he should not remain in prison on the earlier, unjustified charges. We urge Azerbaijan to free Mehman Huseynov immediately.”[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_basic_grid post_type=”post” max_items=”4″ element_width=”6″ grid_id=”vc_gid:1548234806594-889c5f6f-f3c7-0″ taxonomies=”4742, 5113″][/vc_column][/vc_row]
22 Jan 19 | Azerbaijan, Azerbaijan News, Europe and Central Asia, Media Freedom, media freedom featured, News and features
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Afgan Mukhtarli. Credit: Meydan TV
Azerbaijani journalist Afgan Mukhtarli, who had investigated government corruption, fled the country in fear in 2014 and travelled to Georgia. On 29 May 2017 Mukhtarli vanished while in Tbilisi and reappeared the following day back in Azerbaijan. He was charged with illegally crossing a state border, smuggling and resisting a representative of the government using violence.
“Afgan Mukhtarli’s case is a shocking example of how journalists are treated in Azerbaijan,” Joy Hyvarinen, head of advocacy at Index on Censorship, said. “The European Parliament has urged the European Union to ensure that Azerbaijan frees its political prisoners before negotiations on a new partnership deal between the EU and Azerbaijan are concluded and specifically mentioned Afgan Mukhtarli. It is very important that the EU takes a strong line on this in the talks.”
The European Parliament passed a resolution on 15 June 2017 condemning Mukhtarli’s abduction, urging Georgian authorities to investigate and expressing concern at Azerbaijan targeting critics living in exile. Additionally, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe general rapporteur on media freedom and the safety of journalists expressed concern on 20 June 2017.
After more than a year in detention, Mukhtarli was sentenced on 12 January 2018 to six years in prison. This ruling was upheld on appeal on 18 September 2018. Mukhtarli told his lawyer that unidentified men wearing Georgian criminal police uniforms were present when he was pushed into a car, beaten and driven to the Azerbaijani border. The sum of €10,000 was planted on Mukhtarli when he was apprehended. Georgian authorities launched an investigation but have not made progress and refuse to recognise Mukhtarli as a victim of a crime.
Mukhtarli’s sentence and treatment while in detention have been condemned by the US Department of State, Amnesty International, OSCE media freedom representative Desir and the European External Action Service, who call for his release.
At the time of his abduction, Mukhtarli had been investigating business links between Azerbaijani president Ilham Aliyev and former Georgian prime minister Bidzina Ivanishvili. He accused the Georgian authorities of being complicit, stating that “without the permission of the prime minister, they would not have been able to get me across the border”.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_basic_grid post_type=”post” max_items=”4″ element_width=”6″ grid_id=”vc_gid:1548087608735-4abd0122-06f9-7″ taxonomies=”7145″][/vc_column][/vc_row]
10 Jan 19 | Index in the Press
Siding with a journalist who was secretly filmed having sex in her own home, the European Court of Human Rights fined Azerbaijan on Thursday for violating the woman’s privacy and freedom of expression. Read the full article
22 Oct 18 | Azerbaijan, Azerbaijan News, News and features
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Journalist Seymur Hezi was arrested in August 2014. He was subsequently convicted of aggravated hooliganism and sentenced to five years in prison.
The editors of the Index on Censorship Freedom of Expression Award-winning newspaper Azadliq have launched a letter-writing campaign to journalist Seymur Hezi, who is in prison.
The letters will be printed out and sent to Penitentiary No. 17 where Hezi is detained.
Rahim Haciyev, acting editor of Azadliq newspaper, said Hezi’s health is suffering due to the prison conditions but he continues to write about the country’s recent political history.
Hezi was sentenced five years in prison in 2015 for “aggravated hooliganism”, according to Azadlıq Radiosu.
He was previously charged with disorderly conduct in 2014 after an altercation where the journalist defended himself from a physical assault and harassment, according to his lawyers.
The reason for Hezi’s imprisonment is seen as politically influenced due to his public activities. Haciyev said Hezi published critical articles of the authorities in the newspaper, along with critiques in his online TV broadcast “Azerbaijani Hour”.
The journalist’s family and lawyers say that his sentencing was politically motivated and biased. [/vc_column_text][vc_cta h2=”Take Action” color=”pink”]
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