Institute for Reporters’ Freedom and Safety (IRFS)

IRFS urges the Azerbaijani authorities to immediately and unconditionally release the 14 journalists, human rights defenders and bloggers who are currently behind bars and to put an end to pressures on the opposition press and the “Ganun” publishing house.

The raid on the election watchdog NGO signals a serious escalation of the country’s human rights crisis. “It’s a clear message to the government’s critics: ‘Don’t get involved in any issues that question legitimacy of the presidential election”, IRFS CEO Emin Huseynov said.

A new report by the Expression Online Initiative, led by the Institute for Reporters’ Freedom and Safety, cites restrictive laws and politically-motivated surveillance as factors that hinder Internet freedom in Azerbaijan.

At least three independent media outlets in Azerbaijan reported that members of their staff had been physically attacked by police during a sanctioned rally on 12 October 2013. In five cases, journalists were whisked away, and their equipment was seized and damaged.

As people of Azerbaijan voted this week in the presidential election, Internet content filtering, efforts to sabotage social media activism and interference with the work of journalists, were carried out in an apparent bid to suppress allegations of electoral fraud and criticism of the current regime.

Twenty-two human rights organisations and press freedom campaigners warn that Azerbaijan’s presidential election on 9 October may not be credible, as journalists and activists are routinely persecuted for criticising the government.

A group of journalists from independent and opposition media outlets was attacked by a pro-government mob on 4 October 2013, whilst covering a sanctioned opposition rally in Sabirabad region in central Azerbaijan.

Human rights observers believe that Hilal Mammadov is being punished for his journalism and activism for national minorities’ rights.

An IRFS report details Azerbaijan’s consistent failure to seriously address recommendations by the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe on measures needed to improve the human rights situation in the country.

The Institute for Reporters Freedom and Safety condemns the detention of journalist and human rights activist Parviz Hashimli and the raid on his newspaper office on 17 September, deeming it as pre-election pressure on the media and civil society.

A former investigator wants Azadliq newspaper to pay 50,000 AZN for publishing a Facebook post which discussed the former investigator’s career.

Internet cafes are being shut down in Nakhchivan, Azerbaijan, possibly in an attempt to reduce online activism on the eve of elections. The record on human rights and political liberties in the autonomous republic has been dismal over the past years.

Over 150 IFEX members and partners of ARTICLE 19 appealed to US President Obama to drop charges against whistleblower Edward Snowden, update the Whistleblower Protection Act and pass a media shield law.

Just three months before Azerbaijan’s presidential election, the major candidates have unleashed a war on their critics, in one instance calling them “traitors, betrayers and slave-minded people” and “provocateurs” who should be “hit in the mouth,” the Institute for Reporters’ Freedom and Safety says.

A travel ban on a prominent Azerbaijani journalist imposed just before he planned to travel to receive a prestigious human rights prize must be lifted immediately, the Institute for Reporters’ Freedom and Safety said on 17 June 2013.

On 4 June 2013, President Aliyev signed a bill criminalize defamatory and offensive views expressed on the Internet. Online activists could now face up to three years in prison for posting critical views online.