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THE INDEPENDENT: BEHIND THE PREPOSTEROUS GLITZ OF EUROVISION STANDS THE OPPRESSIVE AZERBAIJANI REGIME
Panorama.am
23/05/2012
The Eurovision Song Contest is the most-watched non-sporting
competition in the world. It is perhaps not surprising, then, that
Azerbaijan's government sees the contest as a ticket of admission to
the community of nations. Nor that President Ilham Aliyev has spent
around $134M on a concert hall, which will host the event, says the
popular British daily newspaper "The Independent."
"The Independent" notes that behind the preposterous glitz stands
an oppressive, oil-rich regime where a corrupt ruling elite enjoys
wealth and those who dare to protest are routinely arrested and beaten.
The statistics are grim. Amnesty International records at least 12
prisoners of conscience in Azerbaijani jails and Azerbaijan comes
near the bottom of the press-freedom index, "The Independent" notes.
Nothing has changed in the run-up to Eurovision. Just this week,
more people were held during a pro-democracy protest. It will take
more than a song competition to distract attention from the manifest
inhumanity of the Azerbaijani regime, the publication says.
Panorama.am
23/05/2012
The Eurovision Song Contest is the most-watched non-sporting
competition in the world. It is perhaps not surprising, then, that
Azerbaijan's government sees the contest as a ticket of admission to
the community of nations. Nor that President Ilham Aliyev has spent
around $134M on a concert hall, which will host the event, says the
popular British daily newspaper "The Independent."
"The Independent" notes that behind the preposterous glitz stands
an oppressive, oil-rich regime where a corrupt ruling elite enjoys
wealth and those who dare to protest are routinely arrested and beaten.
The statistics are grim. Amnesty International records at least 12
prisoners of conscience in Azerbaijani jails and Azerbaijan comes
near the bottom of the press-freedom index, "The Independent" notes.
Nothing has changed in the run-up to Eurovision. Just this week,
more people were held during a pro-democracy protest. It will take
more than a song competition to distract attention from the manifest
inhumanity of the Azerbaijani regime, the publication says.