The International Press Institute (IPI) today marked the seventh anniversary of the murder of Azerbaijani journalist Elmar Huseynov with a call for an end to impunity in attacks against journalists.

IPI joined the International Partnership Group for Azerbaijan, a coalition of international non-governmental organisations, in a joint statement urging Azerbaijan’s government to end what the group labelled “a continuing cycle of violence against journalists and impunity for their attackers”.

In Baku, Umud Rahimoglu, chairman of IPI’s National Committee in Azerbaijan, and Aflatun Amashov, chairman of Azerbaijan’s Press Council, as well as other representatives from both organisations, marked the occasion with a visit to Huseynov’s grave.

Huseynov, the editor-in-chief of Russian language magazine Monitor was gunned down in 2005 in the stairwell of his apartment building in the Azerbaijani capital Baku. According to local media, no one has yet been arrested in connection with the killing.

IPI Press Freedom Manager Anthony Mills said: “Every day that the killers of Elmar Huseynov and Rafiq Tagi remain free is a clear sign to journalists in Azerbaijan – and to those who would attack them – that violence is an effective, acceptable way to silence unwelcome voices. Impunity fuels further violence against journalists. We urge Azerbaijan’s government to demonstrate its commitment to the rule of law by holding transparent and thorough investigations into these crimes and by bringing the perpetrators to account.”

In a reminder of the continuing dangers journalists in Azerbaijan face, at least two journalists were reportedly injured yesterday covering clashes between police and protesters in the north-eastern city of Quba after a regional governor’s suggestion that local residents were “traitors” for selling land cheaply.