New prison sentence sign of continued persecution of non-governmental media in Azerbaijan, says OSCE media freedom representative
VIENNA, 10 March 2008 - The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Miklos Haraszti, said today that a four-year prison sentence handed down to the editor-in-chief of the opposition newspaper Azadliq was part of an ongoing campaign suppressing critical voices in Azerbaijan.
"The harsh sentence against Ganimat Zahidov silences the editor of one of the few remaining newspapers critical of the government in the country," Haraszti said.
Zahidov was convicted on Friday for "deliberately causing light injuries" and "hooliganism" in a trial in which the court did not allow key defence witnesses to testify. The charges were brought against him after a street skirmish on 7 November 2007.
"By using charges not related to journalism to send Zahidov to prison, a pattern of repression as damaging as actual criminalization of journalism continues," Haraszti said.
Recent cases of imprisonment of non-governmental journalists on charges not related to their profession were part of this pattern, he said.
"Ganimat's brother, journalist Zahid Zahidov, is serving a three-year prison term for alleged drug possession. Eynulla Fatullayev, who founded several popular political newspapers, is serving a combined 12 years on three different charges," he added.
"Fatullayev's newspapers had to close down after his conviction. The persecution of the Zahidov brothers now endangers the publication of Azadliq."
Haraszti said he hoped that the government would start reforming its handling of the media despite recent negative developments.
"Targeted imprisonment of journalists must stop as a first step towards compliance with international standards," he said.