Emin Guseinov: in Azerbaijan, crimes against journalists remain unpunished

Azerbaijan maintains an atmosphere of impunity for crimes, committed against journalists; strict state control over the sphere of media is obvious; there are facts of pressure on those persons, who criticize the authorities, and the facts of restriction of freedom of expression on the Internet. These conclusions were made by representatives of the Institute for Reporters' Freedom and Safety (IRFS) in the semi-annual report "Critical Voices of Azerbaijan under threat".

Today, the presentation of a study, conducted with the assistance of the Danish organization "International Media Support" (International Media Support) and the American Foundation "National Endowment for Democracy", was held in the media centre of the IRFS.

The authors of the report state that crimes against journalists in the country are not solved and that representatives of the media themselves become victims of provocations and are prosecuted on fabricated charges.

Emin Guseinov, Director of the IRFS, has explained that the report was prepared on the basis of specific complaints of journalists and monitoring, conducted by the IRFS in the first half of 2012.

"We recommend the international organizations to pay more attention to problems of freedom of speech and expression in Azerbaijan," the head of the IRFS has emphasized.

At the same time, the authors of the report recommend their colleagues journalists to adhere to the ethics of journalism and to be careful in matters of their personal safety.

"Let the journalists do not keep silence about their problems. This does not help solving the problem. Only the publicity, the use of legal means to protect their rights, and the public interest can resist the pressure on the media," Emin Guseinov said.

The IRFS' report also urge the authorities to release from custody eight journalists, who have been already sentenced or who await sentencing: Avaz Zeinalov, Editor-in-Chief of the newspaper "Khural", Aidyn Djanyev, the regional correspondent of the above newspaper, Vugar Gonagov and Zaur Guliev, Executive Director and Editor-in-Chief editor of the Guba Regional TV Channel "HayalTV", Anar Bairamly, the correspondent of the representative office of the Iranian TV, Ramin Bairamov, Editor-in-Chief of the website "islamazeri.az", Nidjat Aliev, Editor-in-Chief of the website "azadxeber.az", and Hilal Mamedov, Editor-in-Chief of the newspaper "Tolyshi Sado" (Voice of Talysh).