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THERE IS NOT EVEN A FREEDOM OF INTERNET IN AZERBAIJAN. INDEPENDENT
YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 6, ARMENPRESS: Having a freedom to use the internet,
Azerbaijani people are overpaying for their free activity in it. As
reports Armenpress, former prisoner charged for the free speech Emin
Milli issued a public letter to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev
titled "The internet is not free in Azerbaijan" which was published
in British Independent. Referring to the fact that Azerbaijan is
hosting the Internet Governance Forum, where the freedom of speech is
one of the crucial points, Milli stated, that Aliyev should not take
the opportunity to make false declaration on the freedom of speech
in Azerbaijan. He has noted that in a result of the current policy
of the government the majority of Azerbaijani people are afraid to
voice their opinion on the policy and the activity of the officials.
"You once suggested in a speech that the internet is free in
Azerbaijan. I am sure you will repeat this message at this global
forum. It is true that people in Azerbaijan are free to use the
internet, but it is also a fact that they can be severely punished
afterwards for doing so. We have reports indicating that the government
monitors all our internet communication carried through Azerbaijani
providers without acquiring a warrant or notifying the individual
or provider. Today many of our fellow citizens do not dare to speak
out against your policies, online or offline. You have successfully
managed to silence them. People in Azerbaijan live in fear. We
fear for our lives, we fear for our jobs, we fear for the lives and
jobs of our fathers and mothers, brothers and sisters, we fear for
our friends. We fear every time when someone close to us dares to
disagree with you. We also pay a high price when we dare not to fear"
Milli wrote in the letter.
He also reminded the circumstances of his detention "Before 2009 I
had criticized you mostly online. Then I was attacked in the center
of Baku. I was arrested and later sentenced in a show trial on fake
charges of hooliganism. My father died while I was in jail, his health
was deteriorating since the day of my arrest. I could not be there
when he was placed in hospital and I was not there the day I lost him.
Some of my relatives and friends lost their jobs. They were told that
they are too close to "the enemy of the state"~T.
Milli has noted that he is sparing no efforts to bring the real image
of Azerbaijani society to the surface. "I believe that our country
will become a better place to live once we all accept the truth of
our situation and act together for change. Only then will we be able
to hope for a free internet, perhaps it will herald a free country".
Today there are more than 80 political prisoners in Azerbaijan,
according to a report by the Council of Europe's rapporteur on
political prisoners. The murder of journalists such as Elmar Huseynov,
who was killed in 2005, has never been properly investigated say
commentators and observers.
YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 6, ARMENPRESS: Having a freedom to use the internet,
Azerbaijani people are overpaying for their free activity in it. As
reports Armenpress, former prisoner charged for the free speech Emin
Milli issued a public letter to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev
titled "The internet is not free in Azerbaijan" which was published
in British Independent. Referring to the fact that Azerbaijan is
hosting the Internet Governance Forum, where the freedom of speech is
one of the crucial points, Milli stated, that Aliyev should not take
the opportunity to make false declaration on the freedom of speech
in Azerbaijan. He has noted that in a result of the current policy
of the government the majority of Azerbaijani people are afraid to
voice their opinion on the policy and the activity of the officials.
"You once suggested in a speech that the internet is free in
Azerbaijan. I am sure you will repeat this message at this global
forum. It is true that people in Azerbaijan are free to use the
internet, but it is also a fact that they can be severely punished
afterwards for doing so. We have reports indicating that the government
monitors all our internet communication carried through Azerbaijani
providers without acquiring a warrant or notifying the individual
or provider. Today many of our fellow citizens do not dare to speak
out against your policies, online or offline. You have successfully
managed to silence them. People in Azerbaijan live in fear. We
fear for our lives, we fear for our jobs, we fear for the lives and
jobs of our fathers and mothers, brothers and sisters, we fear for
our friends. We fear every time when someone close to us dares to
disagree with you. We also pay a high price when we dare not to fear"
Milli wrote in the letter.
He also reminded the circumstances of his detention "Before 2009 I
had criticized you mostly online. Then I was attacked in the center
of Baku. I was arrested and later sentenced in a show trial on fake
charges of hooliganism. My father died while I was in jail, his health
was deteriorating since the day of my arrest. I could not be there
when he was placed in hospital and I was not there the day I lost him.
Some of my relatives and friends lost their jobs. They were told that
they are too close to "the enemy of the state"~T.
Milli has noted that he is sparing no efforts to bring the real image
of Azerbaijani society to the surface. "I believe that our country
will become a better place to live once we all accept the truth of
our situation and act together for change. Only then will we be able
to hope for a free internet, perhaps it will herald a free country".
Today there are more than 80 political prisoners in Azerbaijan,
according to a report by the Council of Europe's rapporteur on
political prisoners. The murder of journalists such as Elmar Huseynov,
who was killed in 2005, has never been properly investigated say
commentators and observers.