Baku 2015: Press freedom, Azerbaijan, and the European Games
Tomorrow 50 countries are due to take part in the opening ceremony of the inaugural European Games in Baku, but Azerbaijan’s most prominent journalist, Khadija Ismayilova, will not be at the celebrations. The award-winning investigative reporter has been in jail since December on retaliatory charges over her writing on corruption.
CPJ calls on European Olympic Committees to engage with Azerbaijan on press freedom
Dear President Patrick Hickey: I am writing on behalf of the Committee to Protect Journalists, an independent international press freedom organization, to call your attention to the dismal climate for press freedom in Azerbaijan, which is scheduled to host the first-ever European Games on June 12.
Azerbaijan must immediately release Khadija Ismayilova
New York, February 6, 2015–The Baku Appeals Court today upheld a lower court’s decision to extend the pretrial detention of investigative journalist Khadija Ismayilova to March 24, according to regional press reports. The Committee to Protect Journalists calls for Ismayilova’s immediate release.
Investigative reporter Khadija Ismayilova jailed in Azerbaijan
New York, December 5, 2014–An Azerbaijani court in Baku today ordered the imprisonment of award-winning investigative journalist Khadija Ismayilova for two months pending trial after a local man accused her of urging him to commit suicide, according to news reports. The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the ruling and calls on authorities in Azerbaijan to…
Journalist severely beaten in Nakhchivan republic of Azerbaijan
New York, August 29, 2014–The Committee to Protect Journalists strongly condemns the savage beating of Ilgar Nasibov, an independent journalist and human rights defender based in the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic (NAR)–a mountainous exclave of Azerbaijan where the practice of journalism is severely restricted.
Press freedom at low as Azerbaijan takes Council of Europe chairmanship
On Wednesday, Azerbaijan will assume chairmanship of the Council of Europe Committee of Ministers. The chairmanship process is automatic; the position is rotated every six months among all of the council’s members, in alphabetical order. But Azerbaijan’s chairmanship has proven more problematic than most, as it comes at a time when the country’s fulfillment of…
Prominent journalist harassed again in Azerbaijan
New York, February 21, 2014–The Committee to Protect Journalists is gravely concerned by the official harassment of investigative journalist Khadija Ismayilova, who is being criminally investigated in Baku in apparent retaliation for her reporting on government corruption. Ismayilova works for the Azerbaijani service of the U.S.-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.
CPJ condemns ban of U.S. journalist from Russia
New York, January 14, 2014–The Committee to Protect Journalists is concerned by reports that veteran U.S. journalist David Satter has been banned from Russia for five years. Satter, adviser to the U.S.-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and former Moscow correspondent for the Financial Times, told CPJ that the Russian foreign ministry told him to leave…
Tajikistan blames censorship on complaints by citizens
In the last year, CPJ has documented a disturbing trend of attacks against the press in Tajikistan: the frequent blocking orders that the State Communications Agency has issued to local Internet service providers. Delivered in most instances via text message, the orders urge the ISPs to block nationwide access to local and international news websites…