Cut It Out: Notes from An Azerbaijani Censor

A 1993 censor’s log book, revealing the interplay between censors and the cuts they made, has been circulating among Baku editors. Some extracts from the purloined document:
³24/VIII/93
³An article cut from Azadliq. It said that S. Husseinov demanded the resignation of President Aliyev at his press conference at Ganja. If you see such information in other newspapers, cut it out immediately. ³Anything concerning H. Aliyev should be reported and presented to Ildrimzade, the chief.
Signed: R. Imanov

³3/IX/93 To all! To all! To all!
³All newspapers, regardless of the way they are typeset, must be presented in two copies with all sketches and cartoons. Demand presentation of all photos, and approve them by stamping on reverse side.

³10/XII/93 From a call by Rafik Imanov:
³1. Articles in which A. Mutalibov [ed. note: Mutalibov abandoned the presidency and fled to Moscow in 1992] is described as legal president must be approved by the chief:
³2. Get approval for any anti-Aliyev article.
³3. Get approval for any writing which cast doubts about the legitimacy of power.
³4. Articles describing the arrested as political prisoners have got to be approved.

Other criminal restrictions penalize the following acts: Article 63 (calls to overthrow the government by force); Article 64 (distribution of war propaganda); Article 68 (unauthorized release of state secrets); Article 228 (preparation or sale of pornography); Article 228.1 (materials glorifying cruelty and violence). The civil code, also a holdover from the Soviet era, considers libel a civil offense under Article 7.1.

The new Azerbaijani constitution, drafted under President Aliyev, was adopted by referendum on November 12, 1995, four years after independence, and imposed upon Soviet-era legislation, which has yet to be revised. This 154-article constitution contains all the standard freedoms in a fundamental law on democracy, including popular elections of president and parliament, separation of powers, rights of the individual, an independent judiciary, and judicial review by a constitutional court. Individual articles of the constitution cover the freedom of expression associated with the U.S. First Amendment: Article 50, reflecting the spirit of the Law on Mass Media, explicitly bans state censorship; Article 47 guarantees freedom of speech; Article 48, freedom of religion; Article 49, freedom of assembly; Article 57, the right to petition for redress of grievance.

But the constitution also pays particular attention in Article 46 to protecting the honor and dignity of citizens‹a traditional issue in the Caucasus. Article 106 protects the honor and dignity of the president; Article 75 guarantees respect for state symbols. These articles effectively ban criticism of the chief executive.

On January 25, 1997, Azerbaijan enacted a comprehensive law on official secrets, which holds journalists, as well as officials, responsible for leaks of classified materials. While it was under debate in parliament, critics assailed the bill for ushering in such a wide range of forbidden topics that journalists would be unable to write anything. The statute, inspired by the Russian law on official secrets, groups sensitive subjects under four headings: military, economic, foreign policy, and intelligence. Nevertheless, it officially places some issues that were secret during Soviet times‹such as the health of high officials, accidents, and the state of the environment‹within the public domain.

The Azerbaijani parliament is slated to consider further legislation affecting the press. Draft bills on freedom of information and on financial support of the press have been forwarded to the parliament by the New Generation group of the Union of Journalists, known by its Azeri name, Yeni Nesil. Parliamentary sources report that the legislature is drafting its own versions of these bills. No law currently regulates television or radio, although the spirit of the Law on Mass Media prevails in broadcasting. Television journalists are drafting a model law which would deal specifically with broadcasting, allocation of frequencies, and the status of independent stations.

Censorship While You Wait:

An Azerbaijani Newspaper Struggles to Stay Alive

At 25, Gunduz M. Tairli is a chain-smoking, ink-stained journalist. His face is angular; his expression intense. He is also chief editor of Azadliq, one of Baku’s most popular newspapers, and the organ of the opposition Popular Front party. Putting out Azadliq is a daily struggle for Tairli, who labors 12 hours a day, six days a week for the equivalent of $50 a month. The censors are especially tough on Azadliq (daily circulation about 9,000) because the head of the National Front Party is Abulfaz Elchibey, who ceded the presidency to Aliyev during the political crisis of 1993 and now is considered a dangerous opponent. Every night, Tairli’s colleagues run the tabloid’s eight pages across town to the headquarters of the Main Administration for the Protection of State Secrets (also referred to as Glavlit, the acronym for Soviet censorship) to get the censor’s stamp of approval before it is published in the Azerbaijan Publishing House. There are no private publishing houses available to newspapers; presses for large print runs are expensive, as are newsprint and electricity.

Approval comes only after the censor ponders each page and cuts material deemed undesirable as the Azadliq journalists wait. Explanations for cuts are not offered, and when journalists ask, they get evasive answers. Azadliq (the Azeri word for ³liberty”) keeps a collection of cartoons to fill in the holes; censors don’t like blank spaces. Sometimes, though, there is not enough time before the presses roll to engage in this trickery, so the newspaper occasionally appears with white spaces. If the gaps are too large, the censors may ban the entire edition. Tairli maintains a remarkable equanimity about it all and reveals that, from time to time, the newspaper gets telephone calls of approval from secret admirers within the official establishment.

Between 1992 and 1997, censorship in Azerbaijan has waxed and waned, depending on the administration in power. In the first months of Elchibey’s Popular Front in 1992, censorship was all but abandoned, only to be revived by the Karabakh war. On coming to power in 1993, President Aliyev continued the military censorship of his predecessor and added two other layers of restraint: political censorship and military censorship by the Baku commandant. During the parliamentary elections of November 1995, Aliyev eased censorship and allowed the media to report instances of election fraud. This was interpreted as a limited gesture toward the West, which is critical of Aliyev’s authoritarian rule. According to editors, censorship is once again on the wane. The Baku commandant no longer reviews materials for publication, and military censorship was officially ended in September 1996. There have been recent complaints that military censorship persists despite its formal abolition last year. These days, censors focus mostly on guarding Aliyev and family members from embarrassment. For example, explains Tairli, ³We could not publish the remarks of the Iranian speaker Ali Akhbar Natek Nuri in Moscow which were published in an Iranian newspaper recently. Why? Because the speaker said Aliyev’s greatest mistake was to allow American oil companies into the Caspian Sea to exploit the oil.”

One of the difficulties of living with censorship has been the absence of an official ³taboo list.” During the Soviet era, censors used an index of forbidden subjects popularly called ³The Talmud.” Until the passage of the official secrets act in January 1997, censorship has depended on the whim of individual censors, thus producing inconsistencies. Censors get oral instructions from the chief censor and his colleagues. They also keep a log book of what they have cut and pass notes among themselves. (See box on censorship, page 6). The chief censor is Jahangir Ildrimzade, a man with long-time censorship experience under the Soviet regime. While censorship is occasionally acknowledged, officials mention it as little as possible. In 1995, Ildrimzade gave an interview about his work to the Sharg news agency. But when it was readied for publication, he ordered it killed. Having been reprimanded on one occasion for lack of vigilance, Ildrimzade is a man of caution. His official calling card gives only his name, not his job.

The Many Targets of Azerbaijani Censorship

The Aliyev administration, which wants good relations with the West, has allowed charitable foundations and human rights monitors to set up shop in Baku. Among them is the Yeni Nesil journalists’ association, which keeps a month-by-month tally of censorship incidents. In 1996, Yeni Nesil recorded 428 incidents of censorship in print media. Among them:
Human rights violations. Forty percent of censored articles in 1996 concerned human rights violations. Censored materials included coverage of court cases involving persons accused of plotting a coup d’etat or terrorist acts against the president, conditions of imprisonment of the accused, and instances of torture. Also censored were protests of local and international organizations decrying human rights violations. Articles suggesting incompetence on the part of government organizations charged with defending human rights were also deleted. Criticism of government. In this category were articles critical of the president’s policies, the pace of democratization, and Azerbaijan’s position on the Nagorno-Karabakh problem. In December 1996, independent and opposition newspapers found much of their coverage of the OSCE summit in Lisbon was censored.

The ³power” ministries. Articles critical of defense, security, police, and other law-enforcement agencies were frequently targeted, particularly articles which revealed corruption in the Defense Ministry. In 1996, seven articles were entirely removed from four newspapers (Azadliq, three articles; Mukhalifat, two articles; Press-Fakt, 1 article; 7 Gün, 1 article), while another 25 articles were partially cut from these publications Opposition leaders. About 17 percent of censored articles related to opposition leaders, or contained interviews with them, or statements by them. The September 5, 1996, issue of 7 Gün lost an entire article about former president Elchibey. Azadliq was prohibited from publishing an address by Ali Kerimov, first deputy leader of the National Front of Azerbaijan party. Censors cut sections of an interview with Ibraghim Ibraghimli, secretary of the Musavat party, from the June 17, 1996, issue of Mukhalifat and parts of an interview with Etibar Mamedov, chairman of the National Independent party of Azerbaijan, from the December 19, 1996, issue of Millet.

Miscellaneous subjects. Other targets of censorship included the subject of censorship itself, socio-economic problems in Azerbaijan, news from the regions, notes from travelers reporting local conditions, and some letters to the editors.

Making Offending News Disappear in Azerbaijan:

Methods of Censorship

Removal of paragraphs. This was the most frequently used method in 1996 and often resulted in blank spaces. Cuts were made 131 times in articles published by Azadliq; 83 times in Mukhalifat; and 52 times in Yeni Musavat. Other newspapers which suffered a similar fate were 7 Gün; Ayna-Zerkalo; Millet; Press-Fakt; 525t-chi gezet (so named because it was the 525th newspaper to seek registration); Rezonans; and Khurriyet. Removal of an entire article. This happened to 23 articles prepared for publication in Azadliq in 1996; 21 articles for Mukhalifat; 11 articles and one photograph for Yeni Musavat; six articles for Rezonans; five articles for 7 Gün; four articles for Press-Fakt; and three articles for Ayna-Zerkalo. Suppression of the entire edition of a newspaper. Censors order confiscation to intimidate editors. In one case, the censor ordered removal of such a quantity of material from the July 17, 1996, edition of Mukhalifat that it could not be replaced in the remaining few hours before press time. In another case, the censor refused publication of the January 1, 1996, edition of Azadliq because the newspaper had previously published an article which displeased top government officials. As a result, the chief censor was reprimanded for lack of vigilance with his subordinates.

Aliyev Keeps Firm Hold on Azerbaijani Airwaves

The government of President Aliyev maintains strong control over Azerbaijani State Television and Radio, the only medium which reaches the entire nation. In the provinces where print journalism is especially weak, state television is the main, if not only, source of information. Control is exercised through loyalty of personnel in primary and secondary posts, verified by a censor’s office located at television headquarters, and monitored by the presidential office. State television broadcasts on two channels, Az/TV-1, and Az/TV-2. Channel 1 devotes large segments of its newscasts to coverage of President Aliyev, including repeated clips of his pilgrimage to Mecca and his kissing of the Azeri flag. Az/TV-2 concentrates more on entertainment. Strict control on both channels induces self-censorship among editorial employees. ³After you’ve been censored three times,” says one TV journalist, ³you either think, ŒI must do this or that to make the piece acceptable or it won’t go, and I won’t get my honorarium.’ If you are not able to accept that, you leave.” Paradoxically, however, the government allows one private television broadcaster, Azerbaijan News Service, to operate and broadcast news almost without censorship. (See section on television, page 12). For the moment, ANS is not considered a threat because it reaches less than 13 percent of the population, mostly located in the Baku area where the opposition press operates. In its seven-year existence, ANS has successfully resisted attempts to impose censorship; today it is something of a showpiece with which to court the West. But the ANS management has plans to extend the reach of its signal and so could become more threatening in the future. Despite controls on television, Baku residents do not feel isolated from the outside world. The government does not jam foreign television broadcasts. Two Russian channels‹ORT and RTR‹are widely available, as are two Turkish channels (TRT and one private Turkish channel). In May, NTV, a leading Russian private television company, began broadcasting in Azeri, reaching viewers in Baku, Sumgait, and Absheron Peninsula. Just two weeks after NTV went on the air in Azerbaijan, however, some of its programs were censored‹instead of the scheduled programs, still shots occasionally appear. Evening movie broadcasts have been stopped altogether. These measures resulted from a decision by ³the relevant body responsible for ideology,” as Vahif Musayev, an official of the Communications Ministry, explained, ³because NTV’s programs are harmful to public morals.” The Electronic Frontier in Azerbaijan At present, the authorities have not addressed the issue of freedom of information on the Internet. Some observers believe that the Azerbaijan government has not developed sufficient computer literacy to appreciate the possibilities of the Internet, or to know how to block pornographic, or dissident materials. Free access to the Internet is limited and available only at the Academy of Sciences and a few other academic institutions. Private subscribers can gain access by subscribing for a fee through two companies, Intrans and Compuserve.

Azerbaijan’s Officials Strong-Arm the Press

As Azerbaijan finds its way in the post-Soviet era, powerful officials accustomed to an obedient press have taken matters into their own hands when censorship has failed them. Zardusht Alizadeh, leader of the opposition Social Democratic Party and the editor of its newspaper, Istiglal, recalls how the national police minister, Iskendar Hamidov, reacted to the publication of a satirical article about him. Baku journalists still remember the 1992 incident as the most dramatic beating of a journalist to have occurred since independence. Alizadeh’s article, which suggested marital infidelity on the part of the minister’s mother, caused Hamidov to explode.

³He was terribly angry,” Alizadeh recounted in his downtown office, ³and he rushed down here. He barged in, grabbed an ashtray, and hurled it at me in front of my colleagues. Then one of his body guards grabbed me‹blood was running down my face‹hustled me out of the building and tried to stuff me in the baggage compartment of the minister’s Mercedes.” When Alizadeh resisted, the bodyguards pushed him into the rear seat and drove to a police station, where he was held for several hours in an unlit basement before being released. The same afternoon, Alizadeh tried to press charges against Hamidov but the city prosecutor never acted on the complaint.

Hamidov subsequently was forced to resign because of public indignation over the incident. But when Aliyev came to power in 1993, he restored Hamidov to his post. Later, Aliyev arrested Hamidov on charges of defrauding the government of $400,000.

Another beating involved Seyfulla Mustafayev, one of the founders of ANS, the independent television company. In 1994, Mustafayev called on Babek Gusseinoglu, head of State Television and Radio, to discuss continued use of office space at television headquarters. When tempers flared, Gusseinoglu’s bodyguards jumped on Mustafayev and beat him. Mustafayev spent 21 days in the hospital. No action was taken against the bodyguards or the official.

The year 1995 brought the killing of a journalist which has never been solved. Adil Bunyatov, a TV reporter for Reuters and the Turan news agency, was filming the government’s effort to put down a rebellion by OPON, the special assignment police department. During the storming of the OPON headquarters by Azerbaijani army troops, some 70 people were killed, and 200 people were arrested on suspicion of complicity in the alleged coup. As government forces approached the OPON headquarters where the mutineers led by OPON chief Rovshan Dzhavadov had barricaded themselves, Bunyatov was shot in the back of the neck at point-blank range. Although the Turan news agency protested Bunyatov’s killing as a wanton murder, no autopsy was ever performed; no perpetrator was ever found, and no trial was ever held.

In 1996, according to local press freedom monitors, at least 15 journalists were beaten while carrying out their duties. One case involved a Turkish journalist, Yashar Tezel, a correspondent for Turkish Radio. Tezel arrived in Baku on April 12, 1996, to cover the visit of Turkish Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz and planned to leave April 17. In the course of the visit, Tezel met with former Azerbaijani prime minister Panakh Gusseinov, who was wanted on charges of misappropriation of government property. Police tracked down Gusseinov to an automobile in which he was sitting with Tezel. Both men were arrested.

Tezel was taken to the 16th Police Station and beaten. He was charged with failure to report the whereabouts of a ³state criminal,” aiding and abetting a suspect, and resisting arrest. In reply, Tezel asserted that he did not know Gusseinov was a fugitive. On May 6, he was again beaten while in detention. The Baku journalistic community protested Tezel’s arrest. He was finally released after six months in jail. On January 15, 1996, Valekh Magerramov, the executive secretary of the newspaper Ses, was arrested and held for five hours in the Gakh region. The arrest was ordered by the regional police chief F. Tanryverdiyev, who was angered by the journalist’s inquiries into a dispute between a local resident and the police. Magerramov was released only after authorities in Baku intervened.

Turan News Agency correspondent Tapdyg Farkhadoglu was accosted on the street on November 17, 1996, and beaten by unknown persons after interviewing Neimat Panakhov, the leader of the National Statehood party. The journalist later identified one attacker as the chief of the Sabail police station No. 39. Farkhadoglu brought suit against the station chief Hafiz Rzayev and persons unknown, but the Baku prosecutor closed the case on January 28, 1997, on the grounds that the suspects could not be found. In 1996, in addition to Farkhadoglu and Tezel, the following journalists were arrested or beaten while on assignment, according to ³Mass Media: Principles and Reality,” the bulletin of Yeni Nesil:

• Valekh Magerramov of the newspaper Ses
• Chinghiz Sultansoy, State Radio and Television
• Aacy Gun, Mukhalifat
• Kamal Ali, Yeni Musavat
• Israfil Agaev, Lenkoran khayaty
• Elchin Guseinbeili, Radio Azadliq
• Matin Yasharoglu, Mukhalifat
• Faik Novruzov, Panorama
• three journalists of Khurriyet and Jumhkurriyet
• two journalists of the program ³Day,” Azeri television.

In May 1997, police stopped Azadliq correspondent Elchin Seljuk while he was on assignment in Nakhchivan to report on the political intentions of former president Elchibey. They accused him of disorderly conduct and held him overnight. A local court rejected a prosecutor’s demands for a guilty verdict and 15 days’ imprisonment, but fined Seljuk 22,000 manats (about $5.50). Azadliq editor Gunduz Tairli said the police action did not surprise him. ³The authorities are not anxious for us to report on Elchibey’s plans,” he said.

On June 6, 1997, a security guard slapped Ayna-Zerkalo correspondent Kamal Ali in the face while Ali was conducting an interview in parliament. The guard claimed that the interview had gone on too long. When Ali and fellow correspondents refused to leave, the guard began striking the others. In the aftermath of the incident, the parliament’s security chief acknowledged the misbehavior and both he and the guard apologized for the attack.

Azerbaijani press critics say there have been fewer physical attacks on journalists in the last two years, prompting some to assert that media conditions in Azerbaijan are improving. Others disagree. ³Not so,” says one journalist for Ayna-Zerkalo. ³What’s really happening is that we have learned what irritates the authorities and we are censoring ourselves.”

Azeri Television: Tight State Control, With One Notable Exception