Public shocked by forcing drivers to apologize "on camera"

Baku/21.02.22/Turan: On February 18, one of the TV channels in Azerbaijan showed a Yuotube video where four men apologized for blocking Heydar Aliyev Avenue in Baku on the night of February 17, displaying heavy vehicles with trailers there.

In so doing, the transport company protested against corrupt procedures in the issuance of permits for the transportation of goods. The director of the Azerbaijani transport company R-Qrup Kargo Ramish Jafarov and three drivers of the same company reported on TV in Azeri language that with their action on Heydar Aliyev Avenue they created inconveniences to citizens and that's why they apologize. They also promised not to break the order again, the Caucasian Knot correspondent translated the drivers' words.

In Azerbaijan, forcing people to apologize "on camera" began to be used during the years of the coronavirus pandemic, when quarantine rules were violated en masse.  The public was shocked by what they saw. A televised apology did not make the drivers' plight any easier. Three were sentenced to administrative detention for 30 days, and a criminal case was opened against the director of the company. 

The apologies were made under threats, said Rufat Safarov, human rights activist and head of the "Line of Defense" organization. "We will apply all legal means to protect their rights. We are negotiating to mobilize a public protection committee to help the drivers," he wrote on his Facebook page.

Puzzlement over forcing drivers to apologize was expressed by Ali Kerimli, chairman of the Party of People's Front of Azerbaijan (PPFA). "What is this practice of apologizing, where did the Ministry of Internal Affairs learn this? Don't they understand that they cause people to feel disgust for the government?" - he said in the program "Azərbaycan saatı".

On the evening of February 17, head of the State Road Transport Service (SRTS) Anar Rzayev, whose resignation was sought by the drivers, made a one-sided speech in the program of the Public Television of Azerbaijan. He denied the validity of drivers' claims and justified the actions of the Ministry of Digital Development and Transport, a structure of which is the SCAT. The protesters were not invited to the program, in direct violation of the laws on Public Television and on the Media. 

Osman Gunduz, head of the NGO Multimedia, spoke against this coverage. He condemned the one-sided, biased program on the Public TV: "Anar Rzayev was invited to speak in the program and the drivers demanded his dismissal. This violates the principle of impartiality of the public broadcasting. Recently, the PB is noted for impartialirty as distinct from other TV channels. I hope that the management of the company will adhere to the principle of pluralism," Gunduz said. -0-