On 25 July presentation of the “Electronic Database of Journalists Subjected to Pressure” took place in the press center of the Institute for Reporters’ Freedom and Safety. (26-JUL-2008)
     
Placed on website by Shahla Ismayilova/HRH Azerbaijan on the basis of materials from IRFS; photos by IRFS
    
Emin-HuseynovIRFS chairman Emin Huseynov (right) said that the project, carried out within one year, was dedicated to learning the situation of press freedom, and they have reached that goal. “An electronic database and video recording of 103 journalists have been collected in this project. We wanted to include the names of 20-30 more journalists here, but they declined,” Huseynov said.

According to E.Huseynov, the project was made possible through financial support from the Open Society Institute’s Azerbaijan Office. Although it was originally planned to publish booklets, the booklet was replaced by video-recordings, which have been placed on www.irfs.az website, he added.

Open Society Baku office representative Rovshan Bagirov praised the database and said that OSI will continue to support projects carried out by IRFS. “Continuing pressure against journalists compels us to support these kinds of projects. The creation of these kinds of databases is very effective for studying the problems of journalists. Bringing violations to the attention of international organizations and using these methods is intended to help journalists subjected to pressure,” Bagirov said.

Zeynal-MemmedliBaku State University Journalism Faculty instructor Zeynal Mammadli (right) said that the database was a serious information source that will contribute to journalistic investigations in the future.

Journalists Uzeyir Jafarov, Avaz Zeynalli, Sardar Alibeyli, Rovshan Hajiyev and others expressed their saticfaction with the project and wished IRFS success in its future work.