Azerbaijani authorities take measures to improve the image of the state abroad, attracting Western PR-agencies.
According to Reporters without Borders, the Azerbaijani authorities still brutalize critical journalists. Presented fabricated accusations, they are arrested and put on trial, while the government spends large sums on creating an image of a modern and open country.
In particular, the authorities in Baku are making efforts to improve its image in Germany, where, during the song contest Eurovision the media reported in detail on violations of human rights and press freedom in Azerbaijan. Among others, the task involved the Berlin PR-agency Consultum Communications, said in the statement Reporters without Borders.
100 days after the Eurovision international interest in what happens in Azerbaijan fell substantially. At the same time, just five days after the event one of the president's advisers, Ali Hasanov called on the public to express hatred of all those foreign media that reported on human rights violations.
With effect from mid-June new laws severely limit the freedom of the press in Azerbaijan, the document says. In particular, they allow the Azerbaijani companies to withhold information about their owners and shareholders, and the head of state and his wife are provided lifelong immunity from prosecution.
Legislative changes have been made since the publication of several materials by journalist Khadija Ismailova of corruption among public officials of the highest rank and profits of the presidential family.
Reporters without Borders urged Western politicians to insist on the Azerbaijani authorities to execute their international obligations in the field of human rights and to make it a condition of political cooperation with Azerbaijan.
"Topics such as human rights and freedom of the press should not be subordinated to economic interests. Journalists should be able to reveal the connection between politics, PR-agencies and lobbyists, and in doing so they must not give in to political pressure," said the human rights activists. -02D-
Politics
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On December 28 president of Ukrain called to the president of Azerbaijan İlham Aliyev.
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The preliminary investigation into the case of Russian oligarch and former "state minister" of the separatist regime of Nagorno-Karabakh, Ruben Vardanyan, has been completed. According to a joint statement by the Prosecutor General's Office and the State Security Service of Azerbaijan, Vardanyan has been charged under the following articles of the Azerbaijani Criminal Code: Article 100 (planning or waging aggressive war), Article 107 (deportation or coercion of the population), Article 109 (persecution), Article 112 (deprivation of liberty in violation of international law), Article 113 (torture), Article 114 (mercenary activities), Article 115 (violating laws and customs of war), Article 116 (violating laws and customs of war), Article 214 (terrorism), Article 214-1 (financing terrorism), Article 218 (organization of a criminal community), Article 228 (illegal trafficking in weapons), Article 270-1 (creating threats to aviation safety), Article 278 (violent seizure of power or violent retention of power, violent change of the constitutional order of the state), Article 279 (creation of illegal armed formations), Article 318 (illegal crossing of the Azerbaijani state border).
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On December 28, Russian President Vladimir Putin called Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, as reported by the Kremlin's press service. During the conversation, the issues related to the crash of the AZAL passenger plane on December 25 near the city of Aktau were discussed in detail. "Vladimir Putin expressed his apologies for the tragic incident occurring in Russian airspace and once again conveyed his deep and sincere condolences to the families of the victims, wishing a speedy recovery to the injured," the statement emphasized.
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On December 28, the trial of Abzas Media began, with the prosecutor reading the indictment. At the start of the session at the Baku Serious Crimes Court, the accused, the chief editor of Abzas Media, Sevinc Vagifgizi, filed a motion to disqualify the court panel. She argued that the current composition of the judges could not conduct an impartial investigation, as two of the three judges had previously ruled on cases involving political prisoners.
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