RWB urges Azerbaijan to release journalists on eve of European Games

The international organization "Reporters without Borders" (RWB) has appeal to the Azerbaijani authorities with a request to immediately release all arrested journalists and bloggers before the European Games to be held in Baku. The RWB has also called on the European Olympic Committees to speak against the repression against the media in the country.

Christian Mihr, the Executive Director of the RWB Germany, has noted that the Olympic Committees of the European countries "should not become accomplices of the ruling regime in Azerbaijan, and they should clearly condemn the repression of the freedom of the press on the eve and during the European Games."

In the future, according to Christian Mihr, when choosing a place for sporting events of such importance, the Olympic Committees "should pay much more attention to the human rights situation."

According to the RWB, at present, in Azerbaijan, at least eight journalists and bloggers are imprisoned for their professional activities, and the number of political prisoners in the country is about 80 people.

Meanwhile, the RWB's appeal especially mentions the cases of arrests of journalists Rauf Mirkadyrov, Khadija Ismayilova, and Seymour Khazi.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.