Azerbaijan

2013

  

Second worst year on record for jailed journalists

For the second consecutive year, Turkey was the world’s leading jailer of journalists, followed closely by Iran and China. The number of journalists in prison globally decreased from a year earlier but remains close to historical highs. A CPJ special report by Elana Beiser

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Editor sentenced to 10 years in jail in Baku

New York, December 9, 2013–The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the 10-year jail sentence given today to Azerbaijani journalist Nijat Aliyev, and calls on authorities to release the journalist on appeal.

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Editor Sardar Alibeili, right, has been sentenced to four years in prison. (IRFS)

Critical editor convicted, jailed in Azerbaijan

New York, November 14, 2013–Authorities in Azerbaijan should release on appeal a journalist sentenced to four years in jail on trumped-up charges of hooliganism, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. The conviction comes as Azerbaijan is scheduled to assume the rotating chairmanship in the Strasbourg-based Council of Europe in May.

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Editor handed five-year jail term in Azerbaijan

New York, September 30, 2013–An appellate court in Azerbaijan should reverse the conviction and five-year prison sentence handed on Friday to Hilal Mamedov, chief editor of the independent newspaper Talyshi Sado.

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In Azerbaijan, journalist arrested, newsroom raided

New York, September 19, 2013–Authorities in Azerbaijan must immediately release a journalist who was arrested on Tuesday on fabricated charges and ordered detained for two months, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. The press in Azerbaijan must be allowed to freely cover the country’s next presidential vote, scheduled for October 9, if it is…

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Editor Sardar Alibeili, right, has been sentenced to four years in prison. (IRFS)

Editor jailed on retaliatory charges in Azerbaijan

New York, August 5, 2013–Authorities in Azerbaijan should stop their practice of jailing journalists in retaliation for their work, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. A district court in Baku on Friday ordered the imprisonment of Sardar Alibeili, chief editor of the independent newspaper P.S. Nota, for two months pending investigation of a criminal…

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In Barroso-Aliyev talks, press freedom takes a back seat

“We in Europe are also not perfect,” José Manuel Barroso said last week while hosting a joint press conference in Brussels with Azerbaijan’s head of state, Ilham Aliyev. The president of the European Commission, who is supposed to defend the EU’s democratic values, seemed to prove his own point by deciding not to openly question…

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Award-winning reporter barred from leaving Azerbaijan

New York, June 17, 2013–Authorities in Azerbaijan should lift the travel ban imposed against journalist Mehman Huseynov and allow him to travel freely, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

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Azerbaijan extends criminal defamation to Internet speech

New York, May 14, 2013–Azerbaijani parliament’s approval to extend criminal defamation laws to include Internet speech is a serious setback for press freedom in a country that severely curtails free expression already, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. CPJ calls on President Ilham Aliyev to veto the bill.

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Azerbaijani court sentences editor to eight years in prison

New York, April 5, 2013–An Azerbaijani court has sentenced the editor of a religious news website to eight years in prison on charges related to his coverage of events involving the Muslim community. The Committee to Protect Journalists considers the charges to be fabricated and calls on the courts to overturn the conviction on appeal.

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2013