Freedom is the main condition for the elimination of all problems

On January 14, a group of media leaders, journalists' organizations, and experts appealed to President Ilham Aliyev not to sign a new draft law on the media and return it to parliament for revision. The authors of the appeal express serious concern about the content of the draft law, noting that it was prepared and submitted to parliament without public discussion, without taking into account the views of independent mass media and lawyers.

"After the text of the draft law was made public, we prepared and submitted a package of proposals to improve the content of the draft law, which is reactionary and does not meet the standards of freedom of media and freedom of expression. However, unfortunately, the important proposals we put forward were also ignored. In the end, the Milli Majlis adopted the draft law with several technical changes.

The draft law, the content of which does not meet the standards of media law, the text of which is abstract and confusing, completely subordinates journalism to state regulation. It hands over the key to all decisive regulations to the state, from determining who can engage in legitimate journalism to the condition that online media must obtain a license or opinion from the executive body. The process of drafting the law and the content of the draft do not comply with the Law on Access to Information, as well as the provisions of the Constitution of the Republic of Azerbaijan and international treaties to which Azerbaijan is a party," the appeal said.

The appeal was signed by the chairman of the New Generation Azerbaijan Journalist Union, Arif Aliyev, president of the Azerbaijan Internet Forum, Osman Gunduz, editor-in-chief of Ayna-Zerkalo newspaper, Elchin Shikhli, media law expert, Alasgar Mammadli, director of Turan News Agency, Mehman Aliyev, chairman of the Center for Assistance to the Development of Journalism and media expert, Gulu Maharramli, media law expert, Khalid Aghaliyev.

It should be noted that many members of civil society have previously appealed to the public, parliament, and international organizations not to pass the draft law on media. However, despite all this, the Milli Majlis adopted the draft law in three readings. The President now has the power to sign or return the draft law. That is why this time the media appealed to the President in the hope of returning the bill.

Khalid Aghaliyev, a media law expert who signed the appeal, answered ASTNA's questions on the subject.

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Question: Khalid bey, you appealed to the President not to sign the draft law on media. How did you decide to make such an appeal?

Answer: In order for a draft law to become law, it must be adopted by the Milli Majlis in two or three readings and approved by the President. This is a mandatory procedure. The approval of the draft laws approved by the Milli Majlis by the President is the last, decisive stage. As media experts and media law experts who signed the appeal, Alasgar Mammadli and I closely followed the process during the 20 days that the draft law was announced and on the agenda, and we were almost part of it. A. Mammadli also had closer contacts with the representatives of the Milli Majlis. We have also prepared and submitted more than 40 proposals regarding the reactionary content of the draft law. Almost none of them were taken into account. The result of the process was that the content of the draft law passed by the Milli Majlis did not serve the freedom of expression and freedom of expression media, but the further narrowing and restriction of these fundamental rights. The opportunities we had to prevent the draft aw that was inefficient and harmful to the country were limited to appealing to the President. Therefore, we used the last internal tool. Earlier, there were such practices, there were draft laws vetoed by the President. We have used this experience and hope that our appeal will be given the value it deserves.

Question: But the preparation of a new draft law on media was initiated by the President, and you mentioned it in that appeal. In other words, do you think that the draft law prepared on the initiative of the President will be returned by the President himself?

Answer: The document signed by the President in early 2021 provided for the development and adoption of a law on media. In my opinion, this document was also the result of the reactions caused by the spread of degrading content on the Internet media. We believe that legislation is not the main reason for the popularity of content in the media, especially on the Internet, that violates the right to freedom of expression. In the absence of accurate information, as degrading content and expressions that violate the boundaries of freedom of expression become more attractive to the public, the main reasons are the pressure on the free media, the lack of an environment conducive to the free activity of journalists, and full government control of television and radio which is one of the main sources of information in society. Freedom is the key to overcoming all problems. The new law will not eliminate the problems, but will rather deepen the problems because it implies illegitimate restrictions on freedom of expression in terms of the conditions of the wider legal space, including Azerbaijan. We have tried to emphasize this in our appeal. From the point of view of the country's interests, it is possible for the draft laws passed by the Milli Majlis to be inappropriate, we have observed this and appealed to the President as the representatives of civil society and media by performing our functions. By the way, in his speech a few days ago, the President also addressed the role of the media. Of course, it is not our job to make a final decision, our job is to warn those who make decisions that will be harmful to the country, and we have done our job in this example.

Question: On the eve of the discussion of the draft law in parliament, you had many proposals for changing the draft. Were those proposals considered when adopting the law?

Answer: Only one of the important proposals voiced by several signatories - Alasgar Mammadli, Mehman Aliyev, Elchin Shikhli, Gulu Maharramli - was taken into account in the end. However, it was a technical proposal, expressed by our colleagues against the background of the general inconsistency of the draft law. At the same time, more than 40 proposals were prepared and submitted in writing before the last reading in the Milli Majlis. Unfortunately, these proposals were almost not taken into account. The draft law, which was announced on December 10, was passed by the parliament as its initial version.

Question: If the President signs this draft law as is, then what awaits the media, journalists, or rather independent journalists?

Answer: The new law defines professionals engaged in legal journalism as follows: a journalist is a person who works in a media entity under an employment contract or individually under a civil law contract, whose main activity is to continuously collect, prepare, edit, produce, and transmit information, as well as comment on that information, and who carries out this activity for profit. The conditions for being a journalist are clear in this sense. In terms of the dimensions of the Council of Europe, these conditions are more specific and clear. The definition of a journalist in the Council of Europe documents is as follows: a journalist is a person whose main activity is to constantly seek, obtain, prepare, transmit, and disseminate information and who carries out this activity independently or under a contract with any media entity. The difference is that the new law stipulates a contract with any media outlet. This condition is restrictive and does not correspond to the status of a free journalist. To make a rough comparison - the range of people who can engage in advocacy in Azerbaijan is clear such that members of the Bar Association can engage in this activity. In the light of the new law, only journalists included in the register to be formed by the government in accordance with this law will be able to engage in legal journalism.

Question: Recently, we have seen cases of journalists being summoned to the prosecutor's office and fined by the court. Do you think this is due to a new law that has not yet been signed? Or are any other laws legalizing such cases?

Answer: The warnings and fines observed in recent months have been previously envisaged in other laws related to journalism. For example, the Prosecutor General's Office summons and warns the journalist. This is in accordance with the Law on the Prosecutor's Office. Penalties for journalists' writings are also applied in accordance with the amendments made to the Code of Administrative Offenses in 2017. However, both cases do not comply with the philosophy of the right to freedom of expression in a broader approach. Summoning a journalist to a government body, interrogating him/her for hours, and finally warning him/her should be tantamount to censorship. Such cases not only intimidate others but also deter reprimanded journalists from writing the truth and criticizing. Penalizing journalists for their content in the context of critical, public debates has the same effect. When you approach the fines and warnings you mentioned in the light of the general context, they can be considered as a harbinger of the stricter and broader restrictions that the new law will bring.

Question: What can the media and independent journalists do to protect professional standards and principles if such laws come into force? What is the way out in the current situation and if the law comes into force?

Answer: Unfortunately, Azerbaijan does not have good indicators in terms of freedom of media and freedom of expression. The main reason for this is the lack of a favorable environment for free media. With the exception of the Internet, all other media outlets are directly or indirectly influenced by the government. The way out is activities that serve to create a favorable environment for the media, legislation in line with European standards, away from pressure.

Kamran Mahmudov