Council of Europe partner organisations released report on pressures on media

Baku/27.04.22/Turan: The Council of Europe Platform for  Protection of Journalism and Journalists' Safety today released its annual report in Strasbourg.

The report focuses on the problems of journalists and media in the Council of Europe member states, facts of persecution of media representatives for their professional activities.

The authors of the report are 15 NGO partners of the Council of Europe in the field of media freedom.  The report provides an assessment of the situation around media freedom in the Council of Europe member-states.

Note that the Platform was set up by the Council of Europe in 2015 together with international press freedom NGOs to collect and disseminate information on threats to media freedom and the safety of journalists.

It should be added that the Platform (www.coe.int/fom) regularly publishes information on threats to journalists and the press in Council of Europe member-states and countries' responses to these facts.

Although the current report covers 2021, it also reflects the outbreak of war in Ukraine in February 2022. 

The report also pays much attention to the situation in Azerbaijan. In particular, Azerbaijan is listed among the countries where journalists have been imprisoned (56 in total).

In particular, the following are imprisoned in Azerbaijan: Afgan Sadigov, Aslan Gurbanov (blogger), Elchin Mammad and Polad Aslanov.

In Russia-annexed Crimea, out of 11 imprisoned journalists, 10 are Crimean Tatars.

In Azerbaijan, the Russian Federation, Turkey and Ukraine (Crimea), 11 journalists were convicted of insulting public officials, participating in unauthorized protests, criticizing the government, refusing to obey the police, disclosing confidential information, or supporting a terrorist organization.

Besides, Azerbaijan is among the countries where governments have established control over private media, using pressure and state resources - subsidies, advertising, etc.

This led to the formation of pro-government media outlets that shape public opinion and exclude opposition or dissenting views.

Note that Azerbaijan is in this group along with Turkey and the Russian Federation. The same model is beginning to be applied in Hungary and Poland which are now under the scrutiny of the European Union. Slovenia is following the same path.

The authors of the report pointed to the use of spyware in surveillance of journalists in Azerbaijan, Poland and Hungary.

The study points to the death in Azerbaijan of state news agency Azer Tac correspondent Maharram Ibrahimov and AzTV state channel cameraman Siraj Abyshev on June 4, 2021 in a landmine explosion in the Qalbajar region while covering the consequences of the Armenian aggression. -06В-