Baku/14.12.22/Turan: On December 14, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) issued a report on the annual census of prisons where journalists are imprisoned. The organization concluded that as of December 1 this year, 363 journalists had been arrested around the world, which is 20 percent more than in 2021. This is a record number, says CPJ. Until December 1, 62 journalists were under arrest in Iran. Iran has risen in this indicator from 10th place last year to 1st place.
Security forces are ruthlessly cracking down on protests that began in September. Of the 49 journalists arrested since the protests began, 22 are women. The authorities are trying to prevent the spread of the truth about the demonstrations. In terms of the number of journalists arrested, Iran is followed by China, Myanmar (Burma), Turkey and Belarus.
“The record number of journalists in prison is indicative of the deteriorating state of democracy in the world,” said CPJ President Jodie Ginsberg.
Governments resort to accusations to punish the press, abuses by legal structures, and legislates with mixed statements that criminalize the actual work of news coverage. The journalists arrested in 131 cases this year have not been formally charged.
It is reported that 43 journalists were arrested in China, 42 in Myanmar and 21 in Vietnam. In the United States in 2022, there were 12 arrests and detentions of journalists. The CPJ says press freedom in Europe and Central Asia is under attack, with 40 journalists arrested in Turkey and 26 in Belarus.
Abid Gafarov, the host of Internet television KIM TV, and the head of “Kheberman,” Press.az, Polad Aslanov, were included in the CPJ list from Azerbaijan.
In July of this year, Gafarov was found guilty of slander and insults and sentenced to 1 year in prison. He himself does not recognize the accusations, says that he was punished for investigating the “Terter events.” The “Terter case” covers accusations of the Azerbaijani military in spying on the Armenian special services. This case was reopened, dozens of servicemembers were acquitted.
Aslanov, accused of high treason, was sentenced to 16 years in prison, which was reduced to 13 years in February this year. Aslanov considers himself innocent, stating that he was punished solely for his journalistic activities.
The Azerbaijani authorities do not accept the criticism of international structures regarding the violation of media freedom. He states that freedom of the media, like other fundamental freedoms in the country, is fully guaranteed. —0—
Politics
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Aide to the President of Azerbaijan Hikmet Hajiyev is on a visit to Iran, where he met with Adviser to the President of the Islamic Republic Mehdi Sanayi.
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On January 31, the trial of opposition politician Tofig Yagublu continued at the Baku Serious Crimes Court, where the examination of documents resumed. Yagublu pointed out the falsification of the search protocols related to the search at his home. He drew attention to the fact that the protocol stated that on December 14, 2023, at 16:00, the investigator completed the questioning of the "victim" and decided to conduct a search.
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Elvin Zeynalov, a religious activist living in the village of Mashtaga, was detained on January 31 around noon by individuals in plain clothes outside a store near his home. According to his relatives, later in the evening, Zeynalov was brought back home by people in black clothing, who conducted a search. They took Zeynalov's pants from the wardrobe, put marijuana in the pocket, then "seized" the drugs, filmed the video, and then took the activist away again.
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During the winter session of PACE at the Palais de l'Europe in Strasbourg, a "parallel event" was held on January 30 dedicated to the "alarming human rights crisis in Azerbaijan." The hearings were organized by the Institute for Reporters' Freedom and Safety (IRFS) and PACE member, co-chair of the Group of Unified European Left (Group of the Unified European), Spanish parliamentarian Laura Castel Fort.
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