Latest

The Norwegian Helsinki Committee reports that their close colleague Jekatarina (Katja) Sokirjanskaja ended up in hospital yesterday with a smashed nose and a concussion after having been hit in the face by a policeman. The violence occurred at a memorial rally for her colleague, the assassinated journalist Anna Politkovskaja. (17-OCT-06)
 

The Norwegian Tibet Committee this morning distributed the link to video footage showing a group of Tibetan refugees trying to cross the border to Nepal. The episode, caught on camera by a group of international climbers, clearly shows that one of the Tibetans are shot dead, another wounded and left for dead, says Agence France Press. The Romanian tv channel Pro TV has made the link available on the internet. Watch the video here. (17-OCT-06)
 

Sergei Lapin, Policeman, accused of torture in the Chechen Republic.
Prilepina and V. Minina, high rank officials Special Forces, accused of ‘disappearances’ in the Chechen Republic. Jurii Budanov, Colonel, accused of rape and murder of an 18 year old girl.
HRH-F´s Project Manager for the Russian Federation Ane Tusvik Bonde, right, mourns the loss of Anna Politkovskaya. (16-OCT-06)
 

Emin Huseynov (on the right), the advocacy expert in the Institute for Reporter Freedom and Safety and the chairman of the Committee to Defend Journalist S.Zahidov’s Rights, has undergone a series of the human rights abuses this week. The 4-hours detain at the airport upon his arrival from Istanbul, was accompanied by confiscation of his foreign passport and after its return E.Huseynov noticed a few damages, which can prevent his further travel under the pretext of faked passport. The chief of the airport´s border service shift, interrogated Huseynov and advised him “not to be so active”. He also asked about E.Huseynov’s ties in the UK, Ukraine and Georgia. (15-OCT-06) 
 

On the 6-th of October 2006, there was taken place re-run Municipal elections in 603 municipalities of Republic of Azerbaijan. The CEC and the Ombudsman states that the elections were conducted without serious violations, however the national and international observers piled up a long list of violations, from external interference to the voting up to the mismatch of the number of voted people and ballot papers from the ballot boxes. “The local democracy is not formed in the Republic of Azerbaijan yet” thinks the Congress Mission of the Council of Europe. (11-OCT-06)
 

The Human Rights House Baku, was deeply saddened by the news of assassination of the journalist and writer Anna Politkovskaya on the 7-th of October at the door of her house. Having the similar sad cases in the history of Azerbaijani press, the HRH Baku joined the efforts of the international community to call the Russian authorities to conduct a just and thorough investigation on the case. The statement of the HRH Baku was sent to the Russian Embassy in the Republic of Azerbaijan. (09-OCT-06)
 

On the 3-rd of October 2006, the satiric journalist Sakit Zahidov, made his final statement in the court. Zahidov has been well known in the society for his sharp critics against the Aliyev regime and his case, decorated under the drug-dealt case, has been recognized by the national and international human rights defenders as a political order. The full text of his final statement is given below. (06-OCT-06)
 

The satirical journalist, Sakit Zahidov, with a politically-motivated criminal drug case, was sentenced to 3 years of imprisonment after 3,5 months of arrest. The efforts of national and international organizations could only bring to the “generous” change from the 12 years of imprisonment for the drug dealing to 36 months of imprisonment of the father of five children (wife’s photo on the right), who in reality was guilty of disclosing the high ranking officials in corruption. (5-OCT-2006)

Over the last year, the Freedom of Expression and Freedom of the Press in the Republic of Azerbaijan has caught the attention of the local and international community. The persecution and arrest of journalists, countless trials and lack of partiality, threatens to turn Azerbaijan’s independent press outlets and independent journalists into endangered species. Currently, there are 3 imprisoned journalists, 2 journalists on probation and dozens of journalists regularly threatened, attacked or persecuted. The number of murdered journalists within the last the two years is two. (3-OCT-2006)