Latest
Ganimat Zahidov Sentenced to Four Years of Imprisonment
On the 7-th of March the editor-in-chief of the opposition newspaper “Azadliq” – Ganimat Zahidov was sentenced to four-year imprisonment. Zahidov was convicted for “deliberately causing light injuries” and “hooliganism” in a trial in which the court did not allow key defense witnesses to testify. The charges were brought against him after a street skirmish on 7 November 2007. (10-MAR-08)
Members of the Parliament Criticized Ombudsman’s Report
On March 4, during a session of the Milli Mejlis, Ombudsman Elmira Suleymanova (right) presented her annual report. Suleymanova touched issues such as the situation of speech freedom in the Republic of Azerbaijan. The report was criticized by the deputies of Milli Mejlis. (08-MAR-08)
OSCE Conducts Training for Judges
In the OSCE’s Baku Office, “Defamation in the OSCE Space: Learning Legislation and Experience” training was conducted for judges from Baku’s Appellate Court. The judges learned about European practices in the area of defamation. (07-MAR-08)
New Guidelines for Democracy Commission Small Grants Program
The Democracy Commission Small Grants Program of the US Embassy in the Republic of Azerbaijan introduced new guidelines and procedures related to grants program. The main change is that now the Republic of Azerbaijan based organizations will be able to apply to the Democracy Commission throughout the year, not twice a year as it used to be before. (05-MAR-08)
Commemoration of the 3-rd Anniversary of the Journalist’s Murder
The 3-rd anniversary of the murder of “Monitor” magazine Editor-in-chief Elmar Huseynov was commemorated by national organizations with a number of arrangements. The lack of progress made in the murder investigation over the past three years is a major conclusion and concern of the human rights activists. (03-MAR-08)
Draft Law “On Expression Freedom”
The Media Rights Institute has prepared a draft law “On Expression Freedom” and it will be published in the near future. During the preparation of this draft law the theses of Georgia’s draft law “On Expression Freedom” and legal conceptions of European countries were considered. (29-FEB-08)
Contradiction of ANS Monitoring Results with Reality
A video recording about #14 Prison, where imprisoned “Azadlig” newspaper satiric/journalist Sakit Zahidov is being kept, was broadcast in ANS TV on 17 February, prison chief Arshad Hasanov assessed the activity of the prison positively, however according to the records the IRFS has, enough torture and other unpleasant incidents happened in this prison. (24-FEB-08)
Outlet to Sources is a Major Problem
On 19 February in the International Press Center a coalition of journalist organizations presented “Results of Monitoring of Adherence to Ethics in Azerbaijani Press Project.” According to the monitoring results, ”the major problem of Azerbaijani journalism is that there is not an outlet to sources. Irregardless of being a governmental or non-governmental newspaper, the mass media must adhere to the rules or leave the press.” (22-FEB-08)