Reporters Sans Frontières (RSF) has voiced shock after masked men kidnapped the brother of an opposition daily journalist from a city centre and took him to a suburb where they beat him and threw him into a canal. Ramin Rzayev, brother of “Azadlig” journalist Mohammed Rzayev, was abducted on the evening of 30 August 2005 in the centre of Nakhitchevan, southwestern Azerbaijan. (2-SEP-05)

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Ramin Rzayev?s assailants told him to tell his brother not to present himself as a candidate in the November 2005 legislative elections and to stop writing articles critical of the local authorities. They said “the next time” Mohammed Rzayev would get the same treatment as his brother.

Escalating attacks on freedom of expression
Ramin Rzayev, who was left suffering bad headaches, went to hospital for treatment. “It is outrageous that people should attack a journalist?s brother to put pressure on him,” RSF said. “We abhor this cowardly behaviour and urge international organisations to act to counter these violations of free expression that are becoming more and more common in Azerbaijan.” Less than a month ago, privately-owned media, including “Azadlig”, were threatened and suffered brutal attacks. “This impunity must end,” said RSF. Mohammed Rzayev has suffered frequent harassment from the authorities in response to critical articles. Police beat him up in 2003.

For further information, contact Pascale Bonnamour at RSF, 5, rue
Geoffroy Marie, Paris 75009, France, tel: +33 1 44 83 84 67, fax: +33
1 45 23 11 51, e-mail: europe@rsf.org, Internet: http://www.rsf.org