Baku, June 18, 2004—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) today held a press conference in Azerbaijan’s capital, Baku, to call on Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev to end his government’s repression of independent and opposition media. In Baku, CPJ Executive Director Ann Cooper, Europe & Central Asia Program Coordinator Alex Lupis, and Senior Editor Amanda Watson-Boles…
New York, June 18, 2004—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is concerned that authorities in the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic (NAR)—a mountainous enclave in southwest Azerbaijan—have harassed two journalists writing about politics, economics, and social issues, including local government corruption. Melakhet Nasibova, a correspondent for the Azerbaijani news agency Turan and the Azerbaijani Service of the…
Your Excellency: The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is deeply concerned that Azerbaijani journalist Irada Huseynova, who lives and works in Moscow, cannot attend an international meeting of freedom of expression groups in Azerbaijan in mid-June because she faces arrest on criminal defamation charges should she return to the capital, Baku. Huseynova was invited by the Toronto-based International Freedom of Expression Exchange (IFEX), which will hold its meeting in Baku beginning June 14.
In January 2003, President Heydar Aliyev froze the print media’s debts to the state publishing house through 2005. But that was the only positive development for the Azerbaijani press in what turned out to be a dismal year. With Aliyev’s health failing as 2003 wore on, he began grooming his son Ilham Aliyev to take…
New York, October 17, 2003—Police and security forces attacked and wounded dozens of journalists covering two opposition rallies held in the Azerbaijan’s capital, Baku. According to local and international press reports, the Musavat Party organized several rallies to protest the outcome of presidential elections held on Wednesday, October 15.
New York, September 11, 2003—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is outraged by a police attack earlier this week on a group of independent and opposition journalists outside the police headquarters in Azerbaijan’s capital, Baku. The attack occurred after 4 p.m. on Monday, September 8, in front of the headquarters while the journalists, were covering…
New York, May 22, 2003—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is concerned by the Tuesday, May 20, conviction of two journalists from the opposition weekly newspaper Mukhalifet on charges of criminally libeling the brother of President Heydar Aliyev. On May 20, the Yasamal District Court in Azerbaijan’s capital, Baku, found Mukhalifet editor-in-chief Rovshan Kabirli and…
New York, May 5, 2003—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) condemns yesterday’s attack on the offices on Yeni Musavat, a popular opposition daily in Azerbaijan’s capital, Baku. On the evening of Sunday, May 4, a group of nearly 30 men attacked the newspaper’s offices, destroying furniture, windows, and telephone equipment. The perpetrators also assaulted four…