Nov 1, 1999
His Excellency Heidar Aliyev
President of Azerbaijan
19 Istiglaliyat Street
Baku, Azerbaijan 370066
VIA FAX: 011-9412-920-625
Your Excellency,
The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply disturbed by the closing and continued harassment of the Baku independent station Sara TV and Radio. At 11:30 a.m. on Saturday, October 9, some 15 police officers, along with officials from the Baku City Prosecutor’s Office, the Baku and Yasamal district police departments and the Ministry of the Interior entered the offices of Sara TV, halting all broadcast transmissions and demanding that staff evacuate the office immediately.
According to Rasul Rauf, the station’s director, the police stated they were operating under orders from Your Excellency’s office, but were unable to provide documentation to that effect. Five hours later, at 4:30 p.m., the police finally produced a Ministry of Justice order annulling the station’s registration on the grounds that its foreign-ownership status violated Azerbaijani law.
In addition, ministry officials claimed Sara TV had violated its broadcast agreement by televising political programs, rather than confining itself to culture and entertainment. A number of staff were injured during the subsequent forced eviction by the police, including one pregnant employee who had to be hospitalized.
Since October 18, 14 employees have been on a hunger strike to protest your government’s aggressive campaign against the station. Three of them were recently hospitalized.
CPJ believes it is no coincidence that authorities shut down Sara TV the morning after it broadcast an interview with Nizami Suleymanov, an opposition leader and chairman of the Independent Azerbaijan Party. During the interview, Suleymanov called on the public to take part in an anti-government demonstration.
In a statement provided to CPJ, Rasul says that according to Azerbaijani law, the decision to revoke a broadcasting license can only be taken by a court.However, there are no apparent legal grounds for revoking Sara TV’s license, as the station was legally registered with the Ministry of Press and Information in 1994, and is owned by local representatives of the Turkish-based ICBC Television.
Having been shut down, Sara TV was then fined 250 million manat ($58,000) by the Baku City Court for violating the “honor and dignity” of Husein Huseynov, head of the Azerbaijani Motor Transport Agency. Sara had implicated Huseynov in a corruption scandal during a broadcast in early September.
Sara TV’s court hearing is scheduled for November 2 in Baku. CPJ believes that these legal actions are a mere pretext for a politically-motivated effort to shut down the station.
Suspending Sara TV’s license because of its broadcasting violates all your government’s international commitments to press freedom. As an organization of journalists dedicated to defending the rights of our colleagues around the world, CPJ condemns this latest case of harassment against independent media in Azerbaijan. We urge Your Excellency to do all in your power to ensure that all charges against the station are dismissed. We further call on you to ensure that all provisions limiting media ownership by national origin be removed from both the current Azerbaijani media law, as well as the new draft law that is expected to undergo its final hearing in parliament later this month.
Thank you for your attention to these urgent matters. We await your reply.
Sincerely,
Ann K. Cooper
Executive Director
Join CPJ in Protesting Attacks on the Press in Azerbaijan
Send a letter to:
His Excellency Heidar Aliyev
President of Azerbaijan
19 Istiglaliyat Street
Baku, Azerbaijan 370066
VIA FAX: 011-9412-920-625