PRESSURE ON JOURNALISTS IN NAKHCHIVAN STRENGTHENS

    Pressure and provocation against journalists in Nakhchivan has strengthened on the eve of elections. Among the persecuted are zone correspondents of the Institution of Reporters Freedom and Safety (IRFS) Elman Abbasov, Hakimeldostu Mehdiyev, and representative of the NGO and Democracy Development Resource Center Ilgar Nasibov, according to IRFS.
     According to journalists, representatives of Sharur Department of the National Security Ministry (NSM) make pressure on the relatives of Hakimeldostu Mehdiyev, and demand not to communicate with him.
     `All who comes to our place are subjected to pressure. They are told that I am dealing ion bad things. Sharur Department of the National Security Ministry (NSM) is more active, Mehdiyev said.
     On the eve , representative of communal department N5 came up to Elman Abbasov in one of central streets in Nakhchivan, and began to insult him for not paying for communal services. `But I do not have any debts,` Abbasov said.
     Ilgar Nasibov has been persecuted for many years.
     `The same unknown individuals meet me in the streets , and cry out the same phrases: `You are traitors.` Some people call on my mobile phone and insult me,` Nasibov said.
     Appeals to law enforcement agencies remain unanswered. `Local courts do not consider cases of our beating. Therefore, I am going to appeal to European Court, because there is no other way to stop it,` Nasibov said.
     It is not possible to get comments on the matters in the Sharur department of the NSM. Nobody answered telephone calls.
     * According to the reports of local and international journalist and human rights defending organizations, Nakhchivan is the most dangerous place for press, and there is the highest level of violation of freedom of speech in Azerbaijan.