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On 23 May the Azerbaijani Government introduced the unexpected and shocking ban on using amplifiers to broadcast the Arabic call to prayer, a distinctive trademark of Muslim countries around the world. However after strong national dissatisfaction the ban was called “misunderstanding” and was abolished after the meeting of the Caucasus Muslim Administrator with the President I.Aliyev. (31-May-07)

The growing tension on the human rights situation and ongoing intimidation of mass media in the Republic of Azerbaijan remain to be the point of serious concern among the numerous international organizations. During May, there were dozens of international reactions, but Azerbaijani government is still ignoring the calls to stop intimidating journalists. (30-MAY-07)

On 24 May, the World Press Freedom Committee sent the letter to the President of Republic of Azerbaijan I.Aliyev. The letter reads: “Your Excellency, on behalf of the World Press Freedom Committee —an organization representing 45 press freedom groups from six continents— I wish to express my profound concern about the alarmingly high number of incarcerations of journalists in your country” (25-MAY-07)

The Institute for Reporter Freedom and Safety condemns the government for preventing the newspapers “Realny Azerbaycan” and “Gundalik Azerbaycan” from being published, and the absurd new charges that have been brought against editor Eynulla Fatullayev. On behalf of IRFS, Emin Huseynov (right) calls for Azerbaijan’s leadership to cease its persecution of the press and its policies, which are discrediting to the country at an international level. (23-MAY-07)

On May 20 from 9 p.m. and midnight workers from the Ministry of Emergency Situations carried out an operation to officially remove all employees from the office of Realny and Gundalik Azerbaycan Newspaper and seal the facility shut. Eynulla Fatullayev, the founder and the chief editor of both of these papers who is already serving a 2.5 prison sentence since 20 April 2007, as there was announced that a criminal case for terrorism against him. (22-MAY-07)

Violence and the threat of violence against journalists have become frequent in the Republic of Azerbaijan and often such crimes are committed with impunity. A dramatic increase in defamation charges brought against journalists by state officials has further contributed to the deteriorating environment for freedom of expression. The conviction of Fatullayev (on the right), editor in chief of Realny Republic of Azerbaijan, and attack on his colleague, comes amid the Azerbaijani government’s growing hostility toward independent and opposition media, which raises serious concerns about the future of independent media and the security of journalists in the country. (26-APR-07)

Being the target of numerous trials and attacks for last weeks, the “Realniy Azerbaijan” started to loose real resource – the editor-in-chief Eynulla Fatullayev, one of the most outspoken journalists of Republic of Azerbaijan, was sentenced to 2.5 years of imprisonment on accusations of insult and libel. For last year he repeatedly received threats for his frequent criticism of Azerbaijani officials and for exposing instances of government corruption, but did not change his policy even after the kidnap of his father when he had to stop his activity for several months. (23-APR-07)
 

Eight representatives of Azerbaijani political parties and human rights organizations attended PACE session in Strasbourg in the 3-rd week of April. Among them were three representatives of the Core Group of Human Rights House Baku, who also had a number of meetings with high-ranking representatives of the Council of Europe. The situation on human rights, elections, pressure on mass media was on the agenda of the Azerbaijani human rights delegation. (22-APR-07)

Recently founded by the U.S. State Secretary, AWARD for COURAGE found its laureate in the Republic of Azerbaijan – Ms. Novella Jafaroglu (on the right) – the chairwoman of the Association for Women’s Rights Protection after D.Aliyeva and representative of Human Rights House Baku, received the award “Woman of Courage” for her work and achievements in the sphere of protection for freedom and human dignity. Novella Jafaroglu was awarded by the US Ambassador to Republic of Azerbaijan Ms. Anne Derse on the 13-th of April 2007. (15-APR-07)