Journalist Fired for Posting Photos from Opposition Rally?

A journalist for the APA agency, Farahim Ilgaroglu, was dismissed after he joined the discussion in social networks on the number of participants of the meeting of the National Council on September 11.

As Ilgaroglu himself told Turan, he expressed disagreement with the editor of the website Haqqin.az, Eynulla Fatullayev, on the number of the protesters.

‘So, Eynulla put a photo with a small number of protesters, but I put photos in the comments, confirming their large number. After that, Eynulla asked me if I worked for PFPA or APA. To that I replied that I was doing my journalistic duty.’

   Ilgaroglu considers this his correspondence with Fatullayev was sent to the Presidential Administration. ‘I was told that the order to sack me was received from the Presidential Administration,’ Ilgaroglu said. He was also reproached that he supported the journalists of the opposition newspaper Azadlig.

Ilgaroglu noted that the dismissal did not take into account that he worked regularly for several years or that he has a dependent family and parents, as well as a bank loan.

In turn, Eynulla Fatullayev told Turan he had an open discussion with Ilgaroglu in social networks. ‘He wrote a comment on my page, supporting the opposition. And I just asked him if he worked in a pro-government office and got paid there, so how he could support a different political force.’

‘It was a private correspondence and I have not sent it anywhere. As for the dismissal, then I am not the leadership of APA. Apparently, they followed the correspondence and made this decision,’ Fatullayev said. -05B-