(RSF/IFEX) – RSF has repeated its appeal to the Azerbaijani authorities to release opposition newspaper editor-in-chief Rauf Arifoglu while he awaits trial. According to his lawyer, Samed Panahov, Arifoglu has been on a hunger strike since 9 February 2004 and is refusing to call off his protest action. Panahov said Arifoglu’s condition is deteriorating. He […]
(RSF/IFEX) – RSF has repeated its appeal to the Azerbaijani authorities to release opposition newspaper editor-in-chief Rauf Arifoglu while he awaits trial. According to his lawyer, Samed Panahov, Arifoglu has been on a hunger strike since 9 February 2004 and is refusing to call off his protest action.
Panahov said Arifoglu’s condition is deteriorating. He suffers from violent stomach pains and has experienced sharp falls in his blood pressure. He is being examined regularly by both prison medical staff and Red Cross doctors.
Arifoglu, who is both editor-in-chief of the main opposition daily “Yeni Musavat” and vice-president of the Musavat opposition party, has been detained for more than three months pending trial on charges of organising the riots that followed disputed presidential elections in October 2003. If convicted, he faces up to seven years in prison.
On 27 October, the authorities originally ordered that Arifoglu be held in Baku’s Bailov prison for a period of three months. On 17 January, the Prosecutor’s Office extended his detention by a further three months. No date has been set for his trial.
The authorities claim that Arifoglu organised the 15 and 16 October demonstrations and accuse him of “disturbing the peace” and “refusing to comply” with official decisions. In particular, they allege that objects used by Musavat protesters were stored in his newspaper’s offices. “Yeni Musavat”‘s offices are located in the same building as those of the Musavat party.
Deputy State Prosecutor Ramiz Rzayev maintains that Arifoglu must remain in custody because of the gravity of the charges and the possibility that he could flee.
When RSF met with the authorities during a fact-finding visit to Azerbaijan in December, they maintained that Arifoglu was not being detained as a journalist but rather in his capacity as Musavat’s party leader.
