Baku, October 12, 2000 – Today, former editor-in-chief of the popular opposition daily “Yeni Musavat” Rauf Arifoglu informed the JuHI that the Azerbaijan Republic’s prosecutor general’s office restricted his rights to lead a pre-election campaign. He said that the head of the investigative group, Tahir Kazimov, warned him not to leave Baku, the capital city, […]
Baku, October 12, 2000 – Today, former editor-in-chief of the popular opposition daily “Yeni Musavat” Rauf Arifoglu informed the JuHI that the Azerbaijan Republic’s prosecutor general’s office restricted his rights to lead a pre-election campaign. He said that the head of the investigative group, Tahir Kazimov, warned him not to leave Baku, the capital city, and that he should spend his time learning about the investigated materials in his upcoming trial, which has not yet been scheduled. He believes that this is a violation of his right to be elected to the Milli Mejlis (parliament). As a registered candidate for the Milli Mejlis, he resigned from his position as editor-in-chief of the daily. Elections are scheduled for November 5, 2000 and Rauf Arifoglu is on the list of the opposition Musavat Party. Tahir Kazimov obliged him to read the investigations materials during the period of 16 to 26 October.
Rauf Arifoglu was released from solitary confinement in the Ministry of National Security after 45 days of pre-trial detention and was required to submit a written assurance that he would not flee the city before the trial.
Arifoglu was arrested on August 22 for illegal possession of firearms, participation in an attempted plane hijacking, and terrorism. An additional charge of “calling for a coup d’etat” was later pressed against him.
The charges result from Yeni Musavat’s coverage of an attempted plane hijacking in Nakhchivan, an Azeri enclave located between Turkey, Iran and Armenia. The hijacker, Mehdi Husseynli, a member of the opposition Musavat Party, called Arifoglu from the plane to dictate his demands, which he wanted the editor to publish in the newspaper.
JuHI is a Baku-based union which is dedicated to protect and promote freedom of the press and speech as well as the social, economic and labor rights of mass media workers.