Attacks on the Press in 2010 - Committee to Protect Journalists

Europe and Central Asia: Country Summariesabout the statement. In the interviews, MNB agents made clear that theyconsidered the reports to be harmful to the country’s image.In May, authorities confiscated photographs, video footage, and documentsfrom two Norwegian journalists working on a documentary aboutfreedom of expression in Azerbaijan that focused on the Fatullayev case.Erling Borgen, a reporter and documentary producer, and cameraman DagInge Dahl were leaving the country after a week-long reporting trip whenthey were approached at Baku International Airport by seven men who didnot identify themselves, Borgen said. The men seized the journalists’ carryonbags, claiming they were overweight, and checked the luggage. Whenthe journalists arrived in Oslo, Borgen said, the reporting material wasgone from the bags. The journalists had backed up the files, however, andcompleted the documentary in late year.CPJ research shows that Azerbaijani authorities have a record of usingruses to obstruct and jail journalists. Two independent video bloggers—Emin Milli and Adnan Hajizade—were jailed throughout much of 2010 onfabricated charges brought in reprisal for satirical pieces that mocked governmentpolicies. The two were victims of a staged barroom brawl in July2009, and were arrested themselves for “hooliganism.” The two were freedin November pending appeal. Milli faced a prison sentence of two and ahalf years, and Hajizade a term of two years.The circumstances of their arrest were strikingly similar to those involvingGenimet Zakhidov, editor of the Baku-based, pro-opposition dailyAzadlyg. Zakhidov, released from prison in March after serving more thantwo years, was also jailed on “hooliganism” charges. Here, too, the journalistwas ensnared in a staged assault and then charged in the aftermath, CPJresearch showed.With broadcast media the most popular source of news, the governmentretained tight control over the country’s eight national and 14 regional televisionstations. The president nominates all nine members of the NationalTelevision and Radio Council (NsTR), which has succeeded in keepingbroadcast media largely in the hands of Aliyev’s allies. The NSTR continuedto bar the BBC, and the U.S. government-funded Voice of America andRFE/RL, from broadcasting on FM frequencies in Azerbaijan. In 2010, newsreports said, the NsTR was developing new regulations requiring onlineradio and television outlets to obtain licenses.The government continued using state-run AzTV and private pro-governmentradio and television stations to broadcast propaganda glorifyingAliyev and ensuring that his ruling Yeni Azerbaijan party would dominateparliamentary elections in November. In September, for instance, broadcastmedia enthusiastically reported a government “celebration” of Aliyev’s189