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 26 July "Platform III of the Republic" made a statement which drew attention to the unlawful seizure of electronic devices of underage children of the arrested head of this structure Akif Gurbanov.
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From 19 to 26 July, 24 automatic rifles, 1 machine gun, 9 rifles, 28 grenades, 441 shells, 3118 cartridges of different calibre and other ammunition were found in Khankendi, the Azerbaijani Interior Ministry reported. During the mentioned period, the police found 1 machine gun, 50 grenades, 7 fuses, 3 shells and 320 cartridges of different calibre in Shusha.
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President Ilham Aliyev has approved by decree the Azerbaijan-Kazakh intergovernmental agreement on cooperation in military intelligence defense sector. The document was signed in Baku on 7 June 2024.
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At the trial of the opposition politician Tofig Yagublu, the statement of Elnur Vaqifoglu, another accused, was heard at the Baku Serious Crimes Court.
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