(RSF/IFEX) – In a letter to Minister of Justice Fikret Mamedov, RSF expressed its deep concern following the charges against Rauf Arifoglu, editor-in-chief of the daily “Yeni Musavat”, the Musavat opposition party’s mouthpiece. “We ask that you drop the charges weighing against the journalist and release him,” said RSF Secretary-General Robert Ménard. The organisation recalled […]
(RSF/IFEX) – In a letter to Minister of Justice Fikret Mamedov, RSF expressed its deep concern following the charges against Rauf Arifoglu, editor-in-chief of the daily “Yeni Musavat”, the Musavat opposition party’s mouthpiece. “We ask that you drop the charges weighing against the journalist and release him,” said RSF Secretary-General Robert Ménard. The organisation recalled that in January 2000, the United Nations’ special rapporteur on the right to freedom of opinion and freedom of speech said that “imprisonment as punishment for the peaceful expression of an opinion is a serious violation of human rights.”
According to information collected by RSF, on 30 August, Arifoglu was charged with “attempting to hijack an airplane”, “organising a terrorist act” and “illegal arms possession”. He faces five to ten years’ imprisonment, in accordance with Article 212, paragraphs 1, 2 and 3 of the Azeri Criminal Code. His lawyer described the charges as “absurd”, saying they were based on political motives rather than “legal grounds.”
The journalist was arrested at his residence on 22 August. Police officers searched his apartment and found a gun. According to his colleagues, the police officers allegedly planted the gun in the journalist’s apartment before arresting him. On 21 August, Arifoglu was interrogated in connection with an investigation into a Musavat party dissident’s airplane hijacking three days earlier. The hijacker had called the journalist on his cellular phone to dictate his demands. He was finally brought under control by members of the security services. That same day, an attempt to search the offices of the newspaper “Yeni Musavat”, in order to find a recording of the telephone conversation, failed.
