Attacks on the Press - Committee to Protect Journalists

attacks on the press in 2009europe and central asia: azerbaijant o p developments»»Critical reporters jailed for defamation,“hooliganism.”»»CPJ honors imprisoned editor EynullaFatullayev.6 8key statisticNovruzali Mamedov’s age whenhe died in prison after beingdenied medical care.In January, the BBC andthe U.S. government-fundedbroadcasters Radio Free Europe/RadioLiberty (RFE/RL) and Voice of Americawere forced to halt FM transmissionsin response to aNational Television and RadioCouncil decision to baninternational stations fromdomestic frequencies. RadioAzadlyg, the popular Azerbaijaniservice of RFE/RL,had become a particularly important alternative news source for citizens. “Althoughmany listeners call us and ask how to listen to the radio via Internet andsatellite … 90 percent of the regular listeners we had before lost access to our information,”Radio Azadlyg Bureau Chief Khadija Ismayilova told the news Website EurasiaNet.The loss of Radio Azadlyg was significant. Most residents get news fromtelevision, which is largely under the administration’s control, either directly orthrough pro-Aliyev owners, CPJ research shows. The only independent Azerbaijanichannel with national reach, ANS, toned down its criticism of the governmentsince regulators suspended its license for five months beginning inNovember 2006. Low-circulation print media had more editorial freedom, buttheir impact on public opinion was small. And with authorities cracking down oncritical journalists—using criminal defamation charges to demand jail time andhigh monetary damages—few reporters were willing to cover sensitive topics, themost dangerous of which was reporting on Aliyev and his family.The state’s intolerance of critical voices reached its lowest, and cruelest, pointin August when Novruzali Mamedov, editor of a now-defunct minority newspaper,died in prison, two years into a 10-year sentence on a trumped-up treasoncharge. A Penitentiary Service spokesman said the 68-year-old Mamedov hadsuffered a stroke—and the journalist’s lawyer, family, colleagues, and supporterscharged that authorities bore responsibility. Mamedov’s health had severely deterioratedin the months before his death, they said, and the editor had repeatedlycomplained of inadequate medical care. Defense lawyer Ramiz Mamedov (no relationto the journalist) said his client had suffered from hypertension, bronchitis,neuritis, and a prostate tumor, among other ailments.Authorities refused to release Mamedov on humanitarian grounds or allowindependent medical care. The Council of Europe’s representative to Azerbaijan,Veronika Kotek, unsuccessfully appealed for Mamedov’s transfer to a civilianhospital just days before the death, according to the Baku-based Institute forReporters’ Freedom and Safety (IRFS). Emin Huseynov, IRFS director, saidauthorities had also refused to allow medical treatment offered by a EuropeanUnion delegation that visited Mamedov in June. Mamedov’s family filed a lawsuitagainst the Azerbaijani Penitentiary Service and officials at Prison No. 15, wherethe editor had been held. The case was pending in late year.Arrested in February 2007, Mamedov was convicted the following year aftera closed-door trial before Judge Shakir Aleskerov of the Court for Grave Crimes.Authorities never publicly disclosed the evidence against Mamedov, despiteprotests from domestic and international press freedom groups, including CPJ.News reports said the case against the editor was based on an allegation thathe had received money from Iran to publish his newspaper, Talyshi Sado, a tiny,twice-weekly publication, whose target audience was Azerbaijan’s ethnic Talyshminority. The Talysh community spans northern Iran and southern Azerbaijan.The paper folded after Mamedov’s arrest.Mamedov’s death in state custody threw into sharp relief the plight of sixother members of the news media who were being held in jail for their workwhen CPJ conducted its annual worldwide census of imprisoned journalists onDecember 1.Three journalists—Sakit Zakhidov of the pro-opposition daily Azadlyg,Asif Marzili of the independent weekly Tezadlar, and Ali Hasanov of the progovernmentdaily Ideal—were granted early release from prison in April undera pardon act passed by parliament the month before. Seeing the amnesty, someanalysts expressed hope that the government might ease its heavy-handed repressionof the Azerbaijani press corps. Those hopes were soon dashed as the governmentopened its revolving prison door to four more journalists.Two were being held on defamation charges, CPJ research showed. In October,Editor-in-Chief Sardar Alibeili and reporter Faramaz Novruzoglu of theweekly newspaper Nota were given three-month prison terms after they said inseveral articles that a civic group and its leader were little more than governmentmouthpieces.International monitors—including those with the Vienna-based Organizationfor Security and Co-operation in Europe—have frequently criticized the governmentfor its refusal to decriminalize defamation. But while defamation has beena favorite tool in silencing the press, IRFS director Huseynov noted that officialshave been inventive in using laws as far-ranging as treason and hooliganism.Take the case of two video bloggers—30-year-old Emin Milli and 26-yearoldAdnan Hajizade—who were arrested in July after posting a series of sketchescriticizing government policies. A satirical video the bloggers produced and posted1681 6 9