"Azerbaijan's introduction of legal restrictions on the Internet, including new penalties to criminalize online speech, represents a further erosion of freedom of expression in a country where several journalists and bloggers are already detained or sentenced to prison terms," Thomas Melia, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor stated at OSCE Human Dimension Implementation Meeting in Warsaw, September 25, TURAN's Washington correspondent reports.
Addressing in front of the OSCE member representatives, Mr. Melia reminded that journalists, such as Khadija Ismayilova, are subjected to ongoing harassment and threats in Azerbaijan. Several bloggers have also been targeted for intimidation.
"We urge the authorities to investigate expeditiously such cases, as well as the satellite broadcasting problems encountered by RFE/RL and other Azerbaijani language media," he underscored.
Local and international media rights groups accuse Ilham Aliyev government, in power since 2003, of curbing dissent and freedom of speech in the country, a claim that the Azeri government denies. -0-
Politics
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Journalist Shamsad Aga was detained by police during the late hours, his brother Shahid Agayev reported to Voice of America.
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The Ministry of Transport of Azerbaijan reacted to the report of the Kazakh side on the crash of AZAL aircraft on 25 December, published on Tuesday 4 February.
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The Ministry of Transport of the Republic of Kazakhstan has published a preliminary report on the investigation of the crash of an Azerbaijan Airlines Embraer-190 aircraft, which occurred on December 25, 2024, near Aktau. The report is publicly available on the ministry's official website.
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Under the gray, expansive skies of Brussels, a beacon of administrative initiative at the European Commission sparked to life this month, heralding a renewed vigor in the European Union’s diplomatic outreach. The newly established Directorate General for Enlargement and the Eastern Neighborhood (DG ENEST) debuted on February 1st, setting a new course for EU interaction with its eastern neighbors and potential new members.
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