Jafar Talibov was reporting on a confrontation at a school when he was detained and his tape recording was seized by a local official.
(IRFS/IFEX) – Jafar Talibov, an employee of “Implus” newspaper, told IRFS on 20 October 2010 that he was subjected to harassment in Absheron region.
The journalist said he wanted to record a confrontation between parents and guards at school #1 in Khirdalan region. After a few minutes, Absheron Regional Executive Administration Officer Fikrat Novruzov attacked him and grabbed his dictaphone. He also ordered some plain-clothed National Security Ministry (NSM) officers to take Talibov to Masazir settlement by car and leave him there.
According to Talibov, he was detained in the car for half an hour. The confrontation between the parents and the guards continued during this time, but the journalist could not carry out his work. The NSM employees used physical force to restrain him. They also forced the protesting parents to vacate the area.
As a result of the journalist’s resistance, the NSM employees did not take him to Masazir. About 30 minutes later, Talibov was set free. The journalist’s professional identification card and dictaphone were given back to him; however, the tape that contained the recording was removed from the dictaphone. In a response to the journalist’s request for the tape, Officer Novruzov slighted his journalistic activity by saying that there was no tape in the dictaphone.
