JOURNALISTS BRUTALLY ATTACKED IN AZERBAIJAN AS EUROVISION CRACKDOWN CONTINUES

armradio.am
19.04.2012 12:12

A violent assault on journalists who tried to film illegal house
demolitions on the outskirts of Azerbaijan’s capital Baku on Wednesday
must be thoroughly and impartially investigated by the authorities,
Amnesty International said.

Idrak Abbasov and his brother Adalet Abbasov have been hospitalized
after they were attacked by around 25 state employees and police
acting under the supervision of officials from Azerbaijan’s Ministry
of Internal Affairs.Several other journalists fled the scene when
officials targeted them.

“One would have thought that with the Eurovision just around the
corner and images from Baku about to be beamed around the world, the
authorities would be on their best behavior,” said John Dalhuisen,
Director for Europe and Central Asia at Amnesty International.

“Instead, journalists in the process of exposing human rights
abuses are themselves coming under attack by state officials bent on
preventing them from reporting the truth.”

Idrak Abbasov, who last month won Index on Censorship’s 2012 Guardian
award for journalism, was beaten unconscious, while his brother
suffered head injuries and a broken rib.

Three other journalists, Esmira Javadova, Galib Hasanov and Elnur
Mammadov, were attacked by SOCAR employees as they arrived on the
scene in a taxi. Police officers looked on as workers brandishing
batons smashed the car windows, forcing the journalists to flee,
the Amnesty International reports.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress