Azerbaijani columnists alarmed of the freedom of press

"Freedom of press is in danger!" - this was the motto of today's action held in Baku at the Institute for Reporters' Freedom and Safety by the "ASI Club" (Club of "Advocates of freedom of speech"), which unites columnists of the leading mass media of Azerbaijan.

In the opinion of the participants of the action, the threats to the freedom of speech and press are hidden in the amendments to a number of articles of the Constitution of Azerbaijan, brought to the referendum planned on March 18, and in the amendments in the Law "On Mass Media", adopted last week.

The "Caucasian Knot" correspondent reports that in the course of the meeting the focus was concentrated on offered amendments to Articles 32 and 50 of the Constitution.

Thus, an addition is offered to Article 32 that nobody shall be subjected to shadowing, video filming, photographing and audio record without his or her consent.

In the opinion of Rashid Gadzhily, Director of the Institute of Media Rights, in practice, this provision can be used for restricting journalists' professional work. He thinks that the issues concerning one's immunity are sufficiently covered by the Constitution, the Constitutional Law on Ensuring One's Rights and Freedoms, and by available legislation.

According to his story, each particular citizen's complaint on encroachment on one's personal and family life can be decided by the courts of Azerbaijan on the basis of precedents of the European Court on Human Rights.

Independent journalists are also seriously concerned of the offered amendment to Article 50 of the Constitution that everyone shall be entitled to demand refutation of the data that is breaching his or her rights and (or) damaging his or interests. Interests can be different, including mercenary ones, directed against public interests; therefore, it is not quite correct to oblige mass media to publish refutations in such cases.

In the opinion of Rashid Gadzhily, "the amendments, offered to the legislation, will damage more the criticizing media than racketeers' rags."

The "Caucasian Knot" already reported that the Azerbaijani parliament adopted amendments to Article 19 of the Law "On Mass Media" on March 6.

These amendments list three types of cases when a respective executive authority can initiate a suit on suspending a medium for 2 months, namely, when the editor-in-chief of a mass medium is a foreigner or has no higher education; when the publishing house has failed, within 10 days, to send mandatory copies of a newspaper to the establishments prescribed by the law; and when a journalist was repeatedly brought to administrative responsibility within a year for abusing his rights and the freedom of mass media.