Journalism standards are the best defense against harassment

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- Khalid Bey, in recent days there have been events related to video bloggers living in Azerbaijan and abroad. After a video about the personal life of Muhammad Mirzali's sister appeared, he himself was accused of conspiracy. On the same day, video blogger Mehman Huseynov was detained in Azerbaijan and released after seizing the filming equipment. Can we say that some kind of campaign against bloggers has started?

- Unfortunately, there is no favorable environment for the activities of the media, journalists, especially critics in Azerbaijan. There have been serious problems in this area for many years. There may not be serious raids such as arrests, prosecutions for a certain period of time, but that does not mean the health of the environment in general. Such cases even occur at certain intervals. It would be more correct to call it not a specific campaign, but a characteristic feature of the environment that has dominated for many years. This attitude towards the media, towards journalists is regrettable, or rather, the fact that the government conducts the necessary investigations, gives a legal assessment of the lawlessness against journalists.

- Who do you think is responsible for what happened? If those who do this are not in power, then how should they prove it to society?

- The governments of all countries within the Council of Europe have undertaken to immediately investigate all killings, including violent, psychological ones, committed against journalists and the media, identify the perpetrators and bring them to justice. The answer to your question is how to fulfill this commitment. Effective investigation, identification of the perpetrators eliminates all shadows. If this is not done, doubts and claims against the government will inevitably arise.

- The statement of the Ministry of Internal Affairs says that Mehman Huseynov was detained for illegal acquisition of drones. Is it illegal to own and use a drone?

- In most countries, drone journalism has already taken its place. This gives the media, journalists, as well as society much more opportunities to better ensure the right to receive quality and accurate information. Unfortunately, the so-called drone journalism has failed to take its place in Azerbaijan. The main obstacle is access to drones. In principle, from a legal point of view, it is not impossible for journalists to obtain drones, and it is simply necessary to go through legal procedures. In particular, government-controlled broadcast media can use drones, as seen in the content provided. In practice, however, it seems impossible for critics, independent journalists, and political researchers to go through these procedures and have a drone. The legal mechanisms created for the storage and use of drones are discriminatory, difficult to access, impossible for critics and researchers. This cannot be considered correct, and if viewed in the light of generally accepted law in the Council of Europe space, it is illegal, blocking journalists' access to means that allow them to work more effectively does not comply with the fundamental principles of the right to freedom of expression.

- There was an attempt on the life of the blogger Muhammad Mirzali in France. Similar incidents have occurred against him more than once. Once he was shot from a pistol. Why did he ignore this and his life was not protected?

- As we noted earlier, the countries of the Council of Europe are obliged to investigate raids, threats against journalists, and bring the perpetrators to justice. This commitment also applies to ensuring their safety. If there are real threats against any journalist, blogger, governments must take the necessary steps to protect him. If there was a threat, a danger, if the institutions associated with it knew about it, but the threat led to serious consequences, then we can say that the measures of the associated protection institutions are ineffective.

- Khalid Bek, in fact, the activities of Muhammad Mirzali and video bloggers living abroad are not appreciated by professional media because they do not comply with the ethics, standards and principles of the media. But isn't trying to silence him anyway a violation of free speech?

- As stated in the decisions of the European Court of Justice, the right to freedom of expression protects not only information or ideas that are perceived positively, considered harmless or viewed with disdain, but also information or ideas that are offensive, shocking or disturbing. At the same time, the circle of criticism of politicians and public figures is much wider. But this does not relieve journalists of the burden of being ethical and avoiding humiliation of honor and dignity.

- There is a problem among the events. Abdullayev's father, who introduced himself as a video blogger, was arrested. Do you think that his arrest may have some kind of close remote connection with what is happening with other video bloggers? Is it right to approach his arrest in the context of freedom of speech?

- Regardless of the quality of the content, consistency, speed are important conditions in determining the status of a journalist. If a person constantly, willy-nilly, creates, collects, distributes content on topics that are in the sphere of interests of the media, then the question of freedom of speech often arises. However, journalists, like everyone else, are not immune from the prospect of committing any socially dangerous act. If he does this, he is responsible, and the right to freedom of speech and expression cannot play the role of salvation.