The Azerbaijan Journalists Confederation (AJK), a coalition of 15 different journalist organisations dedicated to the defence and promotion of freedom of the media and expression in Azerbaijan, and the International Press Institute (IPI), the global network of editors, media executives and leading journalists in 120 countries, are launching an international campaign to defend media freedom in Azerbaijan.
The campaign’s aim is to focus the attention of the world community on the deteriorating situation for the Azerbaijani independent and opposition mass media in 2004. In this year, several opposition publications have been closed down, journalists have been imprisoned and bank accounts of newspapers critical of the government have been frozen, destroying press distribution in the country.
Commenting on the situation, IPI Director Johann P. Fritz said, “There is a growing need to focus on Azerbaijan because, based on the harassment of the independent media, it appears that the government might be trying to silence opposition media throughout the country. Indeed, the politicised attacks against independent media outlets show that Azerbaijan is failing to respect its international commitments.”
“Finally, I would remind the Azerbaijani authorities that mass media play an essential role in disseminating information and scrutinising the work of governments.” Fritz said. “Governments need to uphold the right of journalists to practice their profession free of restraints and in accordance with Article 19 of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights.”
“We hope that by drawing the attention of the international community to the problems of Azerbaijani mass media it will be possible to have greater success in the struggle for media freedoms in Azerbaijan,” emphasized Azer H. Hasret, secretary general of the Azerbaijan Journalists Confederation.
For further information please contact: Azer H. Hasret,
Secretary General, the Azerbaijan Journalists Confederation
Address: 33 Khagani, Baku, Azerbaijan AZ1000
Phone: (+994 12) 493 2261; 493 4678 Mob: (+994 50) 335 2795
e-mail: [email protected], URL: www.ajkib.org
