A week after the Committee to Protect Journalists released
its special report on the current state of press freedom in Azerbaijan, "Finding Elmar's Killers," Ali
Hasanov, head of public affairs at the office of President Ilham Aliyev, told
local journalists:
"Azerbaijan
has done enough work to attain political pluralism, freedom of expression and
of the press. We do not accept pretenses to the contrary. We do not accept
reports, no matter which international organization is their author. ... The
presentation of separate cases as a general tendency is, unfortunately,
evidence that this is being done in someone's interest, to benefit certain
interested parties."