The new head of the Baku office of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), Maurizio Pavesi, on Thursday stated that the incidents like the recent kidnapping of the Baku Khabar chief editor “poses a threat to the future of the press in Azerbaijan,” Turan reported. (23 july 2004)
Statement
This first statement by the OSCE representative came on Azerbaijan’s Day of Press. Aydin Guliyev, editor-in-chief of the opposition daily Baki-Khabar, on Monday said four masked men abducted and tortured him for about two hours. Guliyev claimed that the assault had been an ordered one by the authorities.
Concern
The OSCE’s Baku office chief Pavesi said that libel suits against journalists, the difficulties they face in finding out information and the pressures put on the media workers cause concern. The Italian diplomat, who took up the post as head of the OSCE Office in Baku on 12 July this year, also pointed to some positive developments that have happened in the Azeri media. Pavesi said that President Ilham Aliyev’s vetoing an unperfected draft law on public television and dropping of criminal charges against a journalist, Irada Huseynova, were positive developments.
, Maurizio Pavesi, on Thursday stated that the incidents like the recent kidnapping of the Baku Khabar chief editor “poses a threat to the future of the press in Republic of Azerbaijan,” Turan reported. (23 July 2004)&redirect_uri=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2F){kind=link}