AZERBAIJAN: Journalists in Azerbaijan are facing serious financial and physical threats and intimidation just for doing their job, according to the head of an independent media union in the country. Last year, the editor of an independent weekly magazine in Baku, the capital, was killed outside his home.
Head of the Yeni Nesil (New Generation) union and editor of a daily paper, Arif Aliev told The Irish Times that whereas under Soviet rule papers in his country were censored in advance by the authorities, nowadays journalists were liable to be victimised after their work had appeared in print.
"You can write everything you want, but you can be punished," he said. This could take the form of a legal action for damages, resulting in heavy fines.
"The courts are not independent here, they are under the predominant influence of the government." Alternatively, the journalist was likely to suffer physical violence or, as in one case, death.
Magazine editor Elmar Huseynov was shot dead on March 2nd, 2005. "There is no doubt that it was due to his professional activities," Mr Aliev said.
For the past six years, many journalists have been beaten up at demonstrations or on their way home from the office.
An average of 30 to 40 such incidents each year had fallen to between five and 10. "The main thing is that nobody was punished for any of these attacks."
Head of the Democratic Journalists' League, a non-governmental organisation set up to promote media freedom, Yadigar Mammadli said president Ilham Aliyev was an improvement on his father, the late Heydar Aliyev, whom he succeeded in 2003. The current head of state had "very good democratic ideas" but was being obstructed by the "old wolves" he had inherited from the previous administration.
Mr Mammadli has been involved in two hunger strikes for press freedom. The first took place in 1998, with more than 100 journalists, including 20 editors, taking part. This was in protest over harassment of journalists. The second hunger strike took place in January 2003.
Press spokesman at the Azerbaijan ministry of foreign affairs Tahir Taghizadeh acknowledged there had been much criticism of his government's human rights record, but added that a number of reform measures had been taken. "Azerbaijan is a work-in-progress in terms of democracy," he said.
The Council of Europe has been involved in efforts to promote democracy, fair elections and the release of political prisoners in the country, which was admitted to council membership six years ago. It has promoted the development of a free, independent media and organised a two-day workshop for Azeri journalists in Baku last weekend.