Al Jazeera – English
January 18, 2015 Sunday 6:54 AM GMT
What is not being reported in Azerbaijan
by Arzu Geybullayeva
So long as the government keeps saying there are no limitations on
freedom of speech, nothing will change in Azerbaijan.
While global media appears to be focused on debating the limitations
on free speech in France following the attack on the French satirical
newspaper Charlie Hebdo, it is worth remembering that France is not
the only country whose media professionals are targeted.
For years, journalists in Azerbaijan have suffered harsh penalties for
defending their freedom of speech – from prison sentences to
interrogation and the confiscation of broadcasting equipment.
On December 26, at around 10:30am, a group of police officers and
investigators stormed the Baku bureau of Radio Free Europe/Radio
Liberty, ransacking the company’s safe, seizing company documents, the
official seal and equipment, while keeping the staff hostage in a
conference room for over five hours. Once the search was over, the
office was sealed shut. The staff was let go only to be forcefully
summoned a day later at the heavy crimes unit of the state
prosecutor’s office for questioning.
In just a few days, over 30 former and current staff members of RFE/RL
were questioned, including the bureau’s cleaner. On December 30, the
government accused the radio and its staff of espionage, money
laundering and appropriation of funds as part of the ongoing criminal
investigation against foreign-funded entities in Azerbaijan.
Similar measures were taken against Institute for Reporters’ Freedom
and Safety (IRFS), the Media Rights Institute, and International
Research and Exchanges Board (IREX). The offices of all three were
raided in August and sealed shut with IREX leaving the country shortly
after. The director of IRFS, Emin Huseynov, remains in hiding.
Consistent targeting
This is not the first time the RFE/RL station, locally called Azadliq
Radio (Liberty Radio) is targeted by the authorities. In 2009, its FM
broadcast was shut down. BBC radio service and Voice of America
followed suit. For years, the police harassed the radio’s reporters,
often confiscating or breaking their equipment or detaining them for
endless hours of interrogation.
On December 5, Azadliq Radio investigative journalist and the host of
the radio’s daily show, Khadija Ismayilova, was arrested and placed in
pre-trial detention for two months. Accused of “incitement to suicide”
or “an attempt to suicide” as per Article 125 of the Criminal Code,
Ismayilova remains in jail – even though her accuser, Tural
Mustafayev, has withdrawn his complaint.
Mustafayev had accused Ismayilova of inciting him to attempt suicide
and “insulting his honour and dignity on social networks and among her
friends following the break-up of their relations and his intention to
marry another woman”. On December 30, the Baku Court of Appeal
dismissed Ismayilova’s appeal for house arrest.
Prior to this charge, Ismayilova was already facing an unrelated
criminal trial for defamation linked to her posting a document on
Facebook revealing the identity of a man who was an informant for
Azerbaijan’s intelligence services.
In October, when travelling for a conference in Prague, Ismayilova was
prevented from leaving the country. A little over a week before this
trip, Ismayilova was searched and detained for four hours at Baku
International Airport. She was returning from Strasbourg where she
talked about the deteriorating human rights conditions in Azerbaijan.
Her investigative work uncovered many of the hidden and illegal
business dealings of the ruling Aliyev family and other government
officials for which she is recognised internationally. Ismayilova is
the recipient of Global Shining Award, the Gerd Bucerius Free Press of
Eastern Europe Award, the Courage of Journalism Award, and named one
of the Brave Thinkers of the world by Atlantic magazine.
‘Treason’?
Was it a coincidence that Ismayilova’s detention came just a day after
the country’s chief of staff, Ramiz Mehdiyev, accused Ismayilova of
treason and being a foreign spy? Or thatthe radio station was raided
and then closed in another few weeks time?
In his 60-page diatribe on “Western Colonialism”, Mehdiyev wrote:
“Their main concern is lip service to their bosses abroad and keeping
good relations with them. The example is Azadliq Radio’s journalist
Kahdija Ismayilova. Together with her colleague ‘friends’ she puts on
anti-Azerbaijani shows, makes absurd statements, openly demonstrates
destructive attitude towards well-known members of the Azerbaijani
community, and spreads insulting lies. It is clear this sort of
defiance pleases Ms Ismayilova’s patrons abroad.”
He concluded: “Overall there is an understanding within the society
that Azadliq Radio and its employees are on a disgusting path. There
is no need to prove that provision of false information is the same as
working for the foreign secret service. This is treason. This is what
journalists and people with a healthy mindset would think. If the
symbol of democracy is Khadija Ismayilova, then it is awful to imagine
what future awaits the society.”
Siyavush Novruzov, an MP from the ruling party, agrees. In an
interview with a local news site, Novruzov said: “Every place that
works for foreign intelligence and the Armenian lobby should be
searched.”
The Armenian lobby is just another popular tool used by government
circles to punish dissent in Azerbaijan. Despite its support for Track
Two diplomacy initiatives, Aliyev’s regime was quick to accuse Leyla
Yunus and Rauf Mirkadirov of treason and spying for Armenia this year.
Both Yunus and Mirkadirov have been engaged in public diplomacy
initiatives pressing for reconciliation between Armenia and Azerbaijan
for over a decade. The authorities were fully aware of their work for
years.
And yet, in what has been by far the most unprecedented year of
crackdowns, Azerbaijan continues to maintain a steady relationship
with Europe and the image of a transforming country, young and rich,
and eager to spend so long as its critics keep quiet.
With many of the country’s prominent advocates, lawyers, and
journalists in jail; independent media platforms under attack; and
only a handful of international non-governmental organisations left in
the country, there is little hope for the country’s positive
transformation anytime soon.
So long as President Ilham Aliyev keeps saying there are no political
prisoners and no limitations on freedom of speech in Azerbaijan –
conjuring the illusion of a democratic country – little is going to
change in this country.
Arzu Geybullayeva is a political analyst for the Caucasus region and a
specialist in human rights and press freedom in Azerbaijan.
GRAPHIC: So long as the government keeps saying there are no
limitations on freedom of speech, nothing will change in Azerbaijan.;
Many prominent lawyers, and journalists remain in jail, writes
Geybullayeva [Reuters]