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Azeri party complains about persecution of independent media
Turan news agency
27 Sep 04
Baku
The persecution of the independent and opposition press in Azerbaijan
has intensified over the past year. Attacks on the press and individual
journalists represent not only a violation of freedom of speech,
but also of the citizens' right to information, the Hope Party says
in a statement issued today.
The document says that the leading opposition newspapers and magazines
are under constant pressure by the authorities: their employees are
subjected to attacks and abduction, while courts impose considerable
fines on them. All this is aimed at bringing the opposition media to
bankruptcy and forcing it into silence.
The statement also says that over the past year, Georgia has held 65
and Armenia 70 trials involving the media, while in Azerbaijan there
have been 700 such trials. All this demonstrates the proportion of the
campaign to suppress the freedom of the media which the authorities
launched after the 2003 presidential elections.
The Hope Party demands that the authorities put an end to the
persecution campaign and free the editor-in-chief of Yeni Musavat
newspaper, Rauf Arifoglu, who has been imprisoned for 11 months now.
Turan news agency
27 Sep 04
Baku
The persecution of the independent and opposition press in Azerbaijan
has intensified over the past year. Attacks on the press and individual
journalists represent not only a violation of freedom of speech,
but also of the citizens' right to information, the Hope Party says
in a statement issued today.
The document says that the leading opposition newspapers and magazines
are under constant pressure by the authorities: their employees are
subjected to attacks and abduction, while courts impose considerable
fines on them. All this is aimed at bringing the opposition media to
bankruptcy and forcing it into silence.
The statement also says that over the past year, Georgia has held 65
and Armenia 70 trials involving the media, while in Azerbaijan there
have been 700 such trials. All this demonstrates the proportion of the
campaign to suppress the freedom of the media which the authorities
launched after the 2003 presidential elections.
The Hope Party demands that the authorities put an end to the
persecution campaign and free the editor-in-chief of Yeni Musavat
newspaper, Rauf Arifoglu, who has been imprisoned for 11 months now.