Azerbaijani IRFS states pressure on NGOs

Today, the Institute on Reporters' Freedom and Safety (IRFS) has made a statement, which regards the sudden inspection of the Institute initiated by the Ministry of Justice of Azerbaijan to be a "start of a new campaign of frank pressure."

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on October 29 the Ministry of Justice of Azerbaijan started a check of the activities of the IRFS. The employees of the Institute were warned by telephone only one hour before the start of the inspection. The Ministry motivated its actions by the "necessity to study the conformity of IRFS' activities to the legislation."

In spite of the fact that Emin Guseinov, director of the IRFS, is on his business trip, on October 29, two representatives of the Chief Department for Registration and Notariate of the Ministry of Justice came to the Institute and insisted on starting a check. "They have asked the IRFS employees about the founders and members of the organization, received grants and financial activities," says the statement of the IRFS, which arrived to the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

The IRFS regards "the start of the inappropriate and unjustified check in such menacing form as a bright example of the intolerance of the government of Azerbaijan to independent NGOs."

Thus IRFS reminds that a year ago "under a far-fetched pretext, based on the claim of the Ministry of Justice, registration of the Public Association 'Centre of Election Monitoring' (CEM) was liquidated."

"And in June this year the Law 'On NGOs' (Public Associations and Foundations) was added with restrictions and additions. Moreover, the Ministry of Justice unreasonably delays registration of many NGOs," the IRFS asserts.

The IRFS addresses the international democratic public with a request "to call the authorities of Azerbaijan to put an end to this sort of repressive measures." The IRFS also calls them "to be tolerant to NGOs."

According to Alesker Mamedli, an expert in the sphere of the media law, the sudden inspection of the IRFS activities arranged by employees of the Chief Department for Registration and Notariate of the Ministry of Justice is illegal. According to his version, the legislation prescribes that the Ministry of Justice can only inspect an NGO "after two written warnings made within a year."