As the Eurovision Song Contest hits our screens next week, Index calls on the expected 125 million viewers not to ignore the human rights abuses – against journalists, artists, activists – that the Azerbaijan government presides over
Last week Azerbaijani journalist and Index award-winner Idrak Abbasov was brutally assaulted. As members of the international press apply for visas to cover the Eurovision Song Contest, local journalists continue to face attacks and intimidation. Celia Davies reports
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
Last night, the Hammersmith Apollo arena in London was invaded by thousands of Russian speakers who came to see the only UK tour date of the iconic St Petersburg rock band DDT.
The band, founded in 1980 by lead vocalist Yuri Shevchuk, has been at the forefront of Russian rock ever since.
Unlike most other Russian rock bands of the 1980s, they never traded their mother tongue for English: a difficult choice, but one that paid off in the long run. DDT also quickly acquired the status of dissidents, experiencing frequent rows with the authorities. Recently, Shevchuk’s name hit the headlines again for openly confronting Vladimir Putin in a heated debate and for partnering with Bono to save the Khimki forest from destruction.
DDT presented their new album “Inache” (“Otherwise”), surprising the public with unusual sounds and stunning visuals. In the final part of the concert, the performance shifted towards the lyrical ballads the band is famous for.
Opening the show, Shevchuk said: “Why is this show called “Otherwise”? Because many people in Russia want to live otherwise. Tonight, we will say goodbye to the glorious past and will crawl into the brutal reality of today, as we want Russia to have a brighter future”.
Index spoke to Shevchuk after the concert. The star gave a statement in support of the Sing for Democracy project, which is using the Eurovision contest to build momentum and call for human rights in Azerbaijan, the host country for the musical competition this year. Recently, two musicians were arrested after performing a concert in Baku: they have not been released yet, and according to insistent allegations they might have been tortured. In Russia, the case of punk band Pussy Riot is still firing up the public opinion. Shevchuk told Index:
“A musician is a very peculiar type of being. As in Azerbaijan, so in Russia, so in London — a musician is a being of freedom. A musician does not have any owners, except for God. You thus must not offend musicians, as they are the freest of all people. Because music is not generated from anywhere; it comes out of freedom, of inner freedom. Hence: hands off the musicians!”
After four years of wrongful imprisonment, the Azerbaijani government has pardoned journalist Eynulla Fatullayev. Rebecca Vincent reports