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

Fax: +994 12 92 35 43/98 31 54

Vienna, 19 November 2003

Your Excellency,

The International Press Institute (IPI), the global network of editors, media executives and leading journalists in over 120 countries, is deeply concerned that leading daily newspapers in Azerbaijan are being prevented from publishing their editions.

On the basis of information provided to IPI, six popular dailies, Azadliq, Yeni Musavat, Baki xabar, Hurriyyet, Yeni Zaman, and the Russian language Novoye Vremya have been refused access to the state-owned printing press and, as a consequence, have failed to publish their editions since 15 November.

According to Qanimet Zahidov, editor-in-chief of the Azadliq daily, he was informed by the state printing press that his newspaper, as well as the others, would be refused access to the state presses starting immediately after the presidential elections on 15 October 2003. Because of this decision, the editors of the newspapers were forced to approach the private printing presses.

After reaching an agreement to print with a private printing press, the editors were later told by the printing company that it was experiencing a paper shortage and would be unable to print their newspapers. The other private printing houses are believed to have been pressured by the authorities and are wary of working with the newspapers.

In relation to the shortage of paper, IPI has been informed that the importation of paper is in the hands of the chairman of the State Customs Committee Kemaleddin Heydarov. As a result, IPI believes that the refusal of the state owned presses to print the newspapers and the subsequent problems with the private presses are part of a deliberate attempt by the authorities to apply pressure on the independent media.

Aside from the printing difficulties, commentators in Azerbaijan have accused the authorities of creating an artificial shortage of paper thereby increasing its price. Prior to the presidential elections, paper was sold at US$ 500 per tonne but is now priced at between US$ 750 and US$ 1,000 and continuing to rise. There are also claims that the authorities have prohibited the sale of the paper to the private printing presses.

IPI would like to remind Your Excellency that this is only one of numerous press freedom violations that have occurred since the presidential elections in October. For this reason, IPI is worried that the problems are part of an ongoing campaign to harass and intimidate the independent media in Azerbaijan.

With the above in mind, IPI calls on Your Excellency to stop violations of freedom of the press and ensure that the newspapers are allowed to publish.

Yours sincerely,

Johann P. Fritz
Director