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Free expression advocates from around the world gathered this week in Oslo, Norway, at the IFEX General Meeting. Thirty-seven IFEX members signed on to the following statement, calling on the Azerbaijani authorities to address the deterioration in press freedom:

Media Freedom, one of the fundamental principles of democratic society, has permanently been violated in the Republic of Azerbaijan in the last two years. This situation makes the democratic institutions of the world be concerned about the reality of Republic of Azerbaijan. “The current press situation in the Republic of Azerbaijan resembles the situation in Belarus”, said Andreas Herkel, the co-reporter on Republic of Azerbaijan from the PACE. The Norwegian Ambassador (on the right) thinks that “Impunity for those who use violence against journalists encourages new attacks on media representatives” (18-SEPT-2006)

During last few months, the situation of media in Republic of Azerbaijan has been within the attention of national and international society. The persecution and arrest of journalists, doubtful trials and lack of partiality still leaves the media freedom in the list of unrealizable dreams of Azerbaijani society. Currently there are 4 imprisoned journalists, 1 journalist on probation and dozens of journalists regularly threatened, attacked or persecuted. The number of murdered journalists within last two years is 2, still without any progress in criminal investigation (16-SEPT-2006)

The trial over Sakit Zahidov, a journalist famous for his satirical poems disclosing the ruling regime in the Republic of Azerbaijan, who was arrested on the 23-rd of June and charged with purchase of a large amount drugs with intent to sell, has started. The first hearing started up with irregularities and sharp critics of the imprisoned journalist. (01-SEP-2006)

“Azerbaijan´s judiciary is corrupt, inefficient, and politicized. It suffers from a number of critical deficiencies, including heavy influence on its work from the executive branch…The poor conduct of the election process is in essence a symptom of far deeper and fundamental challenges confronting the country. The source of the problem rests in an entrenched political culture that retains Soviet-era governance features, among them flawed institutions incapable of achieving sufficient levels of accountability” says the country report of Freedom House. (22-AUG-2006)

The case of Mirza Sakit, a satirical writer, whose critical poems against corruption and high ranking officials used to appear in “Azadlig,” “Bizim Yol,” and “Baki Bulvari” newspapers, has become In the center of public attention for last 2 months (18-AUG-2006)

On 11 August 2006, the International Press Institute issued a press released,
where the special concern about press freedom in the Republic of Azerbaijan is reflected
(13-AUG-2006)

On 9 August Amnesty International issued the public statement about the concern at “the sharp deterioration in freedom of expression in the Republic of Azerbaijan, and in particular the killing, beating and intimidation of journalists”. The statement says that “a series of violent attacks on journalists and the lack of thorough, effective and independent investigations into these incidents have had a chilling effect on the freedom of expression in the country” (10-AUG-2006)

The Reporters without borders spread the appeal from the Support Committee for Sakit Zahidov  to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) calling for the release of the journalist who has been in custody since 23 June 2006 for alleged drug possession.The appeal has been signed by 19 public figures, independent journalists, political leaders and human rights activists. (2-JULY-06)