Editor of opposition weekly gunned down
New York, March 2, 2005—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the murder of Elmar Huseynov, the founder and editor of the opposition weekly news magazine Monitor, who was gunned down this evening in his apartment building in the capital, Baku. Huseynov was shot several times while walking up the stairwell of his building on his…
Journalist abducted, threatened by military officers
New York, February 3, 2005—Akrep Hasanov, an Azerbaijani journalist with the independent weekly Monitor in the capital, Baku, was abducted by military officers and held in detention for five hours, Hasanov told CPJ. The journalist says he was detained in retaliation for writing an article about abuses and mismanagement in an Azerbaijani military unit. On…
AZERBAIJAN
FEBRUARY 2, 2005 Posted: February 4, 2005 Akrep Hasanov, Monitor HARASSED, THREATENED Hasanov, an Azerbaijani journalist with the independent weekly Monitor in the capital, Baku, was abducted by military officers and held in detention for five hours, Hasanov told CPJ. The journalist says he was detained in retaliation for writing an article about abuses and…
Assets of opposition newspaper frozen
New York, January 7, 2005—The independent Azerbaijani opposition newspaper Yeni Musavat ceased publication indefinitely on December 31, 2004, because a court froze the paperís assets and bank account after ordering it to pay hefty libel damages to several government officials. The damages, which total nearly 800 million manats (US$160,000), stem from seven different defamation lawsuits…
Journalists in prison, 2004
Around the world, 122 journalists were in prison at the end of 2004 for practicing their profession, 16 fewer than the year before. International advocacy campaigns, including those waged by the Committee to Protect Journalists, helped win the early release of a number of imprisoned journalists, notably six independent writers and reporters in Cuba.
CPJ condemns politicized conviction of editor
New York, October 25, 2004—The Committee to Protect Journalists today condemned the conviction and five-year prison sentence handed down to Yeni Musavat Editor Rauf Arifoglu, who was swept up in a crackdown against the opposition press following last year’s tainted presidential election “The politicized conviction of Rauf Arifoglu is yet another government attack against press…
COURT CLOSES CRIMINAL DEFAMATION CASE AGAINST JOURNALIST AFTER LOCAL AND INTERNATIONAL OUTCRY
New York, July 1, 2004—Bowing to international pressure, the mayor of Azerbaijan’s capital, Baku, has dropped criminal charges against a journalist who had criticized his administration. The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) welcomes the decision, but calls on the government to scrap its criminal defamation law entirely.