Azerbaijan Press Is in Danger forum to be held

Representatives of media and non-governmental organizations and directors of the media discussed the state of the media and journalists at a joint meeting yesterday, July 28. Participants made a decision to hold a special forum under the title Azerbaijan Press Is in Danger. Such a decision resulted from the attacks against journalists, which have become more frequent recently, and persecution of the media in the country.

The editor of the Azadlyg newspaper, Ganimat Zaidov, announced after the meeting that the organizational committee to hold the forum, consisting of 9 people, had already been set up. The goal of the action is to draw the attention of the international community and Azerbaijan's authorities to the threat to freedom of the media. There are no guarantees that the physical violence that was used against Aydin Guliyev, editor-in-chief of the Baki Khabar newspaper, and Eynulla Fatullayev, a reporter for the Monitor weekly, will not be continued, Mr Zaidov noted.

In connection with the cases of physical violence, journalists addressed an appeal to the head of state. The first meeting of the organizational committee to prepare the forum will take place in the editorial office of the Azadlyg newspaper on July 29, Mr Zaidov said.

Meanwhile, law enforcement agencies have become interested in the cases of attacks against journalists. An extraordinary session of the standing commission of the Press Council for the resolution of conflicts between official structures and the media took place on July 28. The question about the cruel beating of Eynulla Fatullayev, a reporter for the Monitor weekly, in the center of Baku on July 26 was discussed during the session. Representatives of the Prosecutor General's Office, the Interior Ministry, and the Ministry of Justice who attended the session unanimously decided to take this case under close control. Members of the commission condemned the attack against the journalist and stated they would do their best to reveal guilty people and call them to account. They also decided to take control of the investigation into the abduction and beating of the editor-in-chief of the Baki Khabar newspaper, Aydin Guliyev.