(RSF/IFEX) – RSF has condemned an Azeri court for hounding an opposition weekly by ordering it to pay a 15,000 euro (approx. US$19,400) fine in a libel case or face criminal charges. On 18 January 2005, Elmar Husseynov, editor-in-chief of the weekly “Monitor”, was ordered by a court in Nizami (Baku) to pay the sum […]
(RSF/IFEX) – RSF has condemned an Azeri court for hounding an opposition weekly by ordering it to pay a 15,000 euro (approx. US$19,400) fine in a libel case or face criminal charges.
On 18 January 2005, Elmar Husseynov, editor-in-chief of the weekly “Monitor”, was ordered by a court in Nizami (Baku) to pay the sum awarded three years ago for insulting the Azeri autonomous republic of Nakhitchevan (an enclave between Armenia and Iran).
“This effort to put the paper out of business is part of a plan by the authorities to silence all dissident voices,” RSF said.
The paper was ordered to pay the fine on 19 October 2003 for “insulting the honour and dignity of the people of Nakhichevan” in an article comparing them to the Sicilian mafia. The case was brought by the republic’s representative in Baku, Hasan Zeynalov. When the editor-in-chief refused to pay the fine, Judge Farhad Agamirzoyev, issued the new order.
On 10 December 2004, the printing and distribution firm Gaya received an official but illegal order to freeze all proceeds from the sale of “Monitor”.
The plight of the opposition media in Azerbaijan sharply worsened last year, with circulation falling by 10 to 15 %, partly due to official pressure.
