Azerbaijan: about 40 persons rally at the grave of journalist Guseinov

A rally, dated to the World Press Freedom Day, was attended by about 40 persons, who gathered in Azerbaijan at the tomb of Elmar Guseinov, the editor-in-chief of the magazine "Monitor".

Guseinov was shot dead on March 2, 2005. President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliev condemned the crime and promised to do everything for his speedy disclosure. Law enforcement bodies of Azerbaijan stated that citizens of Georgia Teimuraz Aliev and Tair Khubanov had been put on the wanted list on suspicion of killing Guseinov.

As stated at the rally by Mekhman Aliev, Director of the "Turan" News Agency, 99 percent of the Azerbaijani mass media are controlled by the authorities.

The Institute for Reporters' Freedom and Safety (IRFS) had planned to mark the World Press Freedom Day with a round table dedicated to discussing the problems with the freedoms of press and expression, said Emin Guseinov, Director of the IRFS. "We contacted several hotels, but none dared to provide us with a conference room for the event," he said.

He recalled that nine years elapsed since the murder of Elmar Guseinov, "but the case is still under investigation."

Meanwhile, Ali Gasanov, the head of the socio-political department of the Azerbaijani Presidential Administration, said that "both the legislation and the current situation in the country are fully ensuring the freedom for unobstructed activities of the media."