Severe prison sentence for journalist violates Azerbaijan's commitment to free press, says OSCE media watchdog
VIENNA, 1 November, 2007 - The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Miklos Haraszti, criticized today the eight-and-a-half year combined prison sentence handed down to an Azerbaijani journalist and newspaper publisher.
Azerbaijan's Court for Grave Crimes convicted Eynulla Fatullayev for libel, insult, incitement to ethnic hatred, threat of terrorism and tax evasion on 30 October. Fatullayev, a well-known journalist, is the founder of the newspapers Realny Azerbaijan and Gundelik Azerbaijan.
"Fatullayev's combined long-term conviction on four different counts is a textbook example of arbitrary use of repressive laws with the aim of criminalizing journalism and silencing critical voices. This practice is a gross violation of OSCE commitments on press freedoms," said Haraszti.
"The trial is the culmination of a campaign to silence Fatullayev and to eliminate the country's two largest circulation newspapers."
Fatullayev was handed an eight-and-a-half year prison sentence, a fine of 200,000 manats (approximately 164,000 euros), and his newspapers' 23 computers are being confiscated. In May 2007, shortly after Fatullayev's arrest, the staff of Realny Azerbaijan and Gundelik Azerbaijan was made to leave their premises and the two papers were forced to stop printing.
"Journalists must be given the freedom to have their work be judged by their peers and the public, also if it is judgemental, provocative, or even irresponsible," stressed Haraszti. "It is vital for democracy that the authorities exercise self-restraint, as the participating States of the OSCE have committed themselves."
Fatullayev, detained since April 2007, is one of seven journalists currently imprisoned in Azerbaijan on defamation and other charges.
Haraszti has repeatedly urged the Azerbaijani authorities to release all currently imprisoned journalists, and to decriminalize speech offences. "It is of essential importance that the authorities stop persecuting the remaining free press in Azerbaijan," he said.