H. E. Ilham Aliyev
President of the Republic of Azerbaijan
Office of the President
19 Istiqlaiyyat St.
370066 Baku
Azerbaijan

Fax: +994 12 92 06 25/ 92 28 68

Vienna, 4 May 2004

Your Excellency,

The International Press Institute (IPI), the global network of editors, media executives and leading journalists in over 120 countries, is deeply concerned about the ongoing legal and financial harassment of the independent newspaper, Tezadlar.

According to IPI sources, Tezadlar has had an estimated 400 civil lawsuits filed against it during recent years. Almost all of the lawsuits were filed by government officials. Due to the many libel awards to government officials, the bank account of Tezadlar was frozen throughout the past year. During 2003 the newspaper was forced to send all its profits to the government official, M. Muradov, in the Shamahi province.

Even criminal charges have been brought against the newspaper, the latest in 2000, when T. Agaev, an Advisor to the President of Azerbaijan, pressed charges against the newspaper’s editor-in-chief, Asif Merzili, for criminal defamation, a legal peculiarity which violates international press freedom standards.

IPI is also concerned about a ruling by Judge F. Aghamirzaev of the Baku Yasamal District Court in 2002, which fined Tezadlar and one of its journalists for criticising a government policy. We would like to remind you that the Azerbaijan Supreme Court ruled on 14 May 1999 that the punishment of journalists for criticising government policies is illegal.

After OSCE and European Council representatives had met with Merzili on 19 and 20 November 2003, they addressed the issue during a meeting with the Chairperson of the Azerbaijani Supreme Court, S.Hessenova. They were promised a review of the Tezadlar case by Hessenova, who also promised, on 24 November 2003, to eliminate the restrictions imposed upon Tezadlar by March 2004. However, the newspaper has not received any indications that such steps have been or will be taken. In fact, Hessenova herself informed Tezadlar on 30 April 2004 that its request for an appeal hearing has been denied.

The IPI urges Your Excellency to ensure that Tezadlar is allowed to publish without further harassment and that you do everything in your power to ensure that journalists in Azerbaijan are able to carry out their profession without fear of intimidation. IPI would also like to remind Your Excellency that everyone has the right “to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers,” in accordance with Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and that the Azerbaijani authorities should uphold this principle.

Thank you for your attention.

Johann P. Fritz
Director