10 years without Elmar Huseynov - the action on his grave

Today  is the 10^th year since the assassination of Elmar Huseynov, the editor of the magazine "Monitor." He was shot dead on the doorstep of his apartment in the evening March 2, 2005.  By tradition, every year on March 2 representatives of the democratic community - leaders and activists of the opposition parties, civil society institutions visit his grave.

During an impromptu memorial meeting, the director of Turan news agency Mehman Aliyev said that over the past 10 years have not been found those who ordered and committed the crime.

At the same time, he recalled that one of the bullets was put into  Elmar’s mouth, which was an indication that he was killed to silence.

Elmar murder marked the beginning of all-out attack on the freedom of the press, and  today in the Azerbaijani media is degrading. Aliyev drew attention to the fact that at today's events  thre were not so-called "captains of media" - the leaders of the media. Today, the press and the TV channels are used not to cover the events, but to manipulate public opinion.

However, it is impossible to completely suppress the freedom of speech , because there were opportunities for free expression on the Internet and in particular social media. M.Aliyev called  the past ten years  the lost years,  and believes that the current crisis was the result of regularity and suppression of democratic freedoms. However, the struggle for democratic change in Azerbaijan will eventually succeed, and in this struggle  Elmar will remain Elmar a moral compass, he said.

The head of the National Council of Democratic Forces Jamil Hasanli made a short excursion to the events of 10 years ago, said that in authoritarian countries, none of the advocates of freedom and democracy is  immune to murder. Therefore, the struggle for democracy cannot be stopped.

The head of the party "Musavat" Arif Hajili said that for 10 years the political situation has deteriorated, and only now the situation in Azerbaijan is worse than in Russia, Belarus and other authoritarian countries.  There are more than 100 political prisoners  in Azerbaijan,  more than in Russia and Belarus.

Leader of the People's Party Panah Huseyn said that Ilham Aliyev personally promised that the murder of Elmar will be disclosed.

The head of the National Center for thought Isa Gambar said that the responsibility for the murder of Elmar carries the Aliyev regime, and drew parallels with the murder of Boris Nemtsov, who was eliminated by the Putin regime.

Military journalist Uzeir Jafarov also  told about the degradation of journalism, expressing regret that the newspapers part with their independence for 10 thousand manats allocated by the Media Support Foundation.

PFPA leader Ali Kerimli said that the current policy of repression is a continuation of violence against dissidents in  the new form. After the murder of Elmar Huseynov, the authorities realized that the public would not stand another political murder,  and began to imprison  their opponents: Leyla Yunus, Intigam Aliyev, Ilgar Mamedov, Seymour Ghazi, etc.

At the end of the ceremony, it was noted that this event was usually organized  by the IRFS Director, Emin Huseynov, but now he is forced to go into hiding.

Commemoration ceremony will take  place in the evening at 20:00 at the scene of the murder of Elmar.—06D--