Azerbaijan: Ninth journalist imprisoned
New York, November 12, 2007—Azerbaijani newspaper editor Genimet Zahidov of the prominent opposition daily Azadlig (Freedom) was given two months of pre-trial detention on Sunday while authorities investigate charges of “hooliganism” and inflicting “minor bodily harm.” Zahidov was arrested and sent to a Baku pre-trial detention center the same day. The two charges brought against…
Eight journalists now behind bars in Azerbaijan
New York, November 7, 2007—The editor-in-chief of a pro-government daily paper in Azerbaijan has been sentenced to prison on criminal defamation and insult charges, making him the eighth journalist in the country currently serving jail time. This imprisonment cements Azerbaijan position at the top of the list of countries jailing journalists in Europe and Central…
Editor slammed with hefty sentence
New York, October 30, 2007—The Committee to Protect Journalists denounces a lengthy prison sentence handed down today by an Azerbaijani court to independent editor Eynulla Fatullayev. Fatullayev is already serving a two-and-a-half-year prison term for allegedly defaming Azerbaijanis in an Internet posting he says he did not write, and has been sentenced to another eight-and-a-half…
CPJ urges president to halt persecution of reporter, family
September 27, 2007 His Excellency Ilham Aliyev President of Azerbaijan 19 Istiqlaliyyat Street Baku 370066, Azerbaijan Via facsimile: +994-12-920-625 and +994-12-492-0625 Your Excellency, The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply disturbed by the seizure, beating, and imprisonment of Hakimeldostu Mehdiyev, regional correspondent for the opposition newspaper Yeni Musavat, by officials in the Nakhchivan Autonomous…
Azerbaijani reporter given one-year sentence
New York, December 10, 2007—The Committee to Protect Journalists is concerned about a one-year suspended sentence given today to Ilgar Nasibov, Nakhchivan correspondent for the U.S. government-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. Nasibov was released today after being held on a separate defamation charge since last week.
In Azerbaijan, persecution of editor continues; CPJ seeks a halt
New York, September 6, 2007—Azerbaijani authorities must stop the persecution of Eynulla Fatullayev, an imprisoned editor who has been hit with a series of politically inspired criminal charges since he began investigating alleged government wrongdoing, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.
Supreme Court upholds Azerbaijani editor’s prison sentence
New York, August 24, 2007—The Committee to Protect Journalists denounces the continued imprisonment of Eynulla Fatullayev, editor of the now-shuttered Russian-language weekly Realny Azerbaijan and the Azeri-language daily Gündalik Azarbaycan. On Wednesday, the Supreme Court of Azerbaijan upheld Fatullayev’s 30-month prison sentence on charges of defaming Azerbaijanis in an article. Fatullayev has been held in…
To mark Press Day, CPJ urges release of jailed Azerbaijani journalists
New York, July 20, 2007—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Azerbaijani authorities to mark the country’s National Press Day on Sunday by releasing the seven journalists jailed in the nation’s prisons. Azerbaijan is the region’s leading jailer of journalists and one of the world’s worst backsliders on press freedom, CPJ research shows.
Appellate court ratifies prison sentence of Senet journalists
New York, July 9, 2007—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns Friday’s decision by an Azerbaijani appellate court in Baku to uphold the convictions of two independent journalists on charges of insulting Islam in a November commentary. On May 4, Judge Yusif Kerimov of Sabail District Court in Baku convicted Editor-in-Chief Samir Sadagatoglu and writer Rafiq…
Security ministry hits opposition editor with new charges
New York, July 5, 2007—The Committee to Protect Journalists deplores the continued persecution of Eynulla Fatullayev, imprisoned editor of the Russian-language weekly Realny Azerbaijan and the Azeri-language daily Gündalik Azarbaycan, and that of his staff. The Ministry of National Security (MNB) brought a new criminal charge of incitement to ethnic and religious hatred against Fatullayev…