CPJ: Azeri government imprisoned journalists of retaliatory charges

|Baku viciously cracked down on domestic dissent as it hosted two major international events, the Eurovision 2012 song contest and the Internet Governance Forum. Authorities imprisoned at least nine critical journalists on a variety of retaliatory charges, including hooliganism, drug possession, and extortion, reads annual report of CPJ  called “Attacks of press in 2012”.

 CPJ concluded that the charges were fabricated. International human rights groups, including CPJ, criticized the Eurovision organizer, the European Broadcasting Union, for standing by passively as President Ilham Aliyev’s government jailed and intimidated detractors. The broadcasting union, while expressing concern about the abuses, said the contest was an “apolitical” event. Several independent journalists, including award-winning reporter Idrak Abbasov, were brutally assaulted on assignment, but the assailants, believed to have included police and security officers, enjoyed impunity. Investigative journalist Khadija Ismailova was subjected to a contemptible intimidation campaign after reporting on the ruling family’s extensive business interests. State media smeared her reputation, and anonymous individuals circulated intimate videos and photos. Parliament responded to Ismailova’s coverage bypassing legislation giving the president broad immunity from prosecution and barring corporations from disclosing a wide range of financial information. Aliyev signed the bills into law in July.

Idrak Abbasov, a journalist with the Baku-based Institute for Reporters’ Freedom and Safety and contributor to several news outlets, was assaulted twice in as many months. When he attempted to report on the demolition of houses by the state-owned oil company, he was brutally assaulted and taken to the hospital with severe injuries. The company accused Abbasov of instigating the attack.

The number of imprisoned journalists to December 1 of 2012 were 9 person. -0-