(RSF/IFEX) – In a letter to Information Minister Sirus Tabrizli, RSF protested the suspension of the opposition weekly “Monitor Weekly” and the closing of the offices of the daily “Bakinski Boulvard” and the printing house Baku Printing Press, companies which are run by the publisher of “Monitor Weekly”. “This is a serious attack on freedom […]
(RSF/IFEX) – In a letter to Information Minister Sirus Tabrizli, RSF protested the suspension of the opposition weekly “Monitor Weekly” and the closing of the offices of the daily “Bakinski Boulvard” and the printing house Baku Printing Press, companies which are run by the publisher of “Monitor Weekly”. “This is a serious attack on freedom of information, which is guarantied by your Constitution,” said Robert Ménard, the organisation’s secretary-general. “We insist that you see to it that the harassment of press organs ends,” added RSF’s spokesperson. Moreover, the organisation urged the authorities to make a commitment to respect press freedom, just as the Council of Europe is studying Azerbaijan’s membership application.
According to the information collected by RSF, on 16 May 2000 the weekly “Monitor Weekly” was suspended by the country’s Economic Court, further to the filing of a complaint by a private company, which accused the newspaper of
“propagating false information”. On 7 May, the Ministry of Finance’s services had already closed the offices of “Monitor Weekly”. The next day, Baku Printing Press, the largest private printing house in the country, and the offices of the newspaper “Babinski Boulvard” were also closed. The authorities had justified the closures by alluding to financial impropriety in the accounts of the Centre for Geopolitical Research (CGR), a company cofounded by Elmar Huseinov, the publisher of “Monitor Weekly”. On 31 March, the Ministry of Finance had initiated audits of the two press organs and the printing house. The results of these audits have yet to be communicated to the parties concerned. The authorities also demanded that “Monitor Weekly” pay a 100 million manat tax (approx. US$22,700, 20,000 euros).
“Babinski Boulvard” and “Monitor Weekly” are publications known for their critical stance towards the country’s authorities. In July 1998, the monthly “Monitor”, which Huseinov published at the time, was sold, after being sentenced to pay a 16 billion manat fine (approx. US$3.6 million, 2.7 million euros) which it did not pay. The publication had been sued for “insulting the Azeri nation”, further to the lodging of a complaint by three university professors.
