Statement of the participants of the ceremony on commemoration of Elmar Huseynov, the Chief of "Monitor" magazine
Today is the 12th anniversary of the treacherous murder of Elmar Huseynov, the Chief of "Monitor" magazine. Until now, the killers of Elmar have not been found and remain unpunished, and unwashed blood continues to put shame on Azerbaijani journalism.
Elmar's murder was a milestone because it opened the way for the repression of the independent press and led to its actual destruction. Many media outlets were closed, or are under the control of power, becoming a media propaganda. Journalism has lost its social significance and became an accomplice of the policy, which led the country into a deep systemic crisis.
Following the professional journalism, so-called People's journalism was also subject to repression - social networks, the blogosphere. Laws against freedom of the Internet, frequent arrest and punishment of the social networks of activists as well as journalists toughened.
In these difficult days for the entire country, taking the responsibility for the fate of freedom of speech in Azerbaijan, as the cornerstone of a free and democratic society, we call on the authorities to:
1. bring to justice those ordered and murderers of Elmar Huseynov;
2. to release from imprisonment journalistsand bloggers;
3. to stop repression of the freedom of speech;
4. to eliminate amendments to the law on the media, and the Internet;
5. to provide free access to information in accordance with the law on the media and freedom of information;
6. to adopt the law on defamation;
7. to provide economic conditions for the free development of the media;
8. to start a constructive dialogue with the authorities of the media community to create conditions for the development of the mass media according to international standards.
Baku, 2 March, 2017
Want to say
-
In Ukraine, a brutal, bloody war caused by Russian aggression continues, claiming lives, destroying homes, demolishing infrastructure, and inflicting incalculable harm on the environment and surrounding natural ecosystems. Ukraine, more than anyone else in this world, strives for peace, as we bear the daily brutality of this Russian-Ukrainian war. We are at the forefront of the struggle for the right to life, freedom, and justice. Ukraine seeks a just peace that will lay a solid foundation for a stable future for Europe and the World, and the only way of achieving this is to implement President Volodymyr Zelensky's Peace Formula (the Ukrainian Peace Formula).
-
On the eve of a large-scale flood approaching Baku, a disturbing incident occurred in the village of Buzovna, where a Lada Priora car fell into the ground, literally collapsing the road beneath it. The driver miraculously remained unharmed but vowed to seek justice, promising to file an official complaint with the prosecutor’s office against Azersu OJSC, the state-owned water supply and sewerage company, often associated with deeply rooted corruption.
-
In a bit of historic irony, powerful oligarch Bidzina Ivanishvili has managed to inspire rare unity across Georgia’s cacophonous political scene twice in his life. His money and influence forged the broad-based consolidation of opposition forces that brought him to power in 2012, and now, 12 years and three electoral cycles later, a similar pattern of opposition convergence could send him packing.
-
Russian authorities and pro-Kremlin influencers have been spreading false information about alleged Reporters Without Borders (RSF) research into Nazi tendencies within the Ukrainian military, which was featured in a viral video falsely attributed to the BBC. RSF exposes the inner workings of a disinformation campaign designed to justify President Vladimir Putin's war narrative.
Leave a review