Three journalists beaten in Azerbaijan

Today in the afternoon, three journalists have been exposed to violence in the village of Nekhram, the Nakhichevan Autonomous Republic (NAR) of Azerbaijan. They are Malakhat Nasibova and Ilgar Nasibov, regional correspondents of the Azeri Service of Radio Liberty, and Elman Abbasov, an employee of the local office of the Institute for Reporters' Freedom and Safety (IRFS).

Ms Nasibova told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent that they had arrived to the village under request of the elders, who complained that the police do not allow them to rally in the centre of the village and talk. When the journalists came to the village, the saw local residents and policemen grouped in the centre.

"As soon as we began talking with the elders, people in civilian clothes rushed on us and started beating. They took away our photo cameras and dictaphones. We suffered seriously," said Malakhat Nasibova. All the journalists' appeals to policemen inviting them to interfere were in vain. The defenders of law and order kept just watching the incident.

The Azerbaijani Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) refused to make any comments on the attack on journalists and recommended to address the MIA of the Autonomous Republic. The chief police agency has also refrained from any comments.