The press freedom situation in Azerbaijan has deteriorated rapidly since the presidential elections of 15 October 2003, which were widely held to be fraudulent. Since that time there have been numerous press freedom violations.

These violations include:

· Rauf Arifoglu, editor in chief of the Yeni Musavat, the biggest opposition daily in the South Caucasus, was imprisoned for five years starting from 27 October 2003.

· Vugar Mammedli, founder and editor in chief of the closed down daily Hurriyyet and sports newspaper Futbol+, is temporarily imprisoned for alleged financial fraud.

· Evez Zeynalli, editor-in-chief of the popular weekly Khural, faces a criminal case for translating and publishing Adolph Hitler’s Mein Kampf.

· Mahammed Rza, regional correspondent in Nakhchivan for the opposition Azadliq, was tortured by policemen and his life threatened. On 28 April 2004 policemen asked him to get off the bus he was traveling on. They drove the journalist to the outskirts of the city and tortured him demanding that he stop his activities. Although complaints have been made to the government, no action has been taken in this case.

· Since December 2004, the head of Baku’s Underground railway line, Tagi Ahmedov, has refused to allow the opposition newspapers Azadliq, Yeni Musavat, Baki Khaber, Bizim Yol and sports newspaper Futbol+ to be delivered within the metro stations.

· Several newspapers, including Yeni Musavat, Baki Khaber daillies, Mukhalifet and Tezadlar weeklies, have also had their bank accounts frozen due to legal actions brought by different people in government or related to government.

Recommended action:

· Send appeals to the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan urging him to release Rauf Arifoglu and Vuqar Mammedli from prison and to stop all attempts at harassing and intimidating the media and reminding him of Azerbaijan’s international obligations to uphold human rights.

· Send similar appeals to the Azerbaijani Embassy in your country

SEND APPEALS TO: His Excellency Ilham Aliyev, President of Azerbaijan, 19 Istiqlaliyyat Street, Baku, Azerbaijan AZ1066, Fax: [994 12] 492 06 25, E-mail: [email protected]

More press freedom violation info on Azerbaijan can be found here:

The Azerbaijan Journalists Confederation (AJK) is a coalition of 15 different journalist organizations to defend and promote freedom of the media and expression in the country while the International Press Institute (IPI) is a global network of editors, leading journalists and media executives in over 120 countries.

For more information, please contact: Azer H. Hasret, Secretary General, the Azerbaijan Journalists Confederation, 33 Khagani, Baku, Azerbaijan AZ1000, Phone: (+994 12) 493 2261; 493 4678 Mob: (+994 50) 335 2795, e-mail: [email protected], URL:

This public statement has been distributed as part of the International Campaign to Defend Media Freedom in Azerbeijan launched by IPI and the Azerbaijan Journalists Confederation (AJK) to focus the attention of the world community on the deteriorating situation for the Azerbaijani independent and opposition mass media. www.ajkib.org, www.freemedia.at and www.cascfen.org