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RFE/RL JOURNALISTS ROUNDED UP IN BAKU
Prague Post, Czech Republic
Dec 29 2014
Police going to reporters' homes and denied the right to counsel
WASHINGTON -- Dec 27, 2014 -- Journalists with RFE/RL's Azerbaijani
Service reported that police are pursuing them individually, going
directly to their homes to take them in for questioning following a
raid on the service's Baku bureau Dec. 26.
In a move the bureau's legal team is calling "unprecedented -
even by Azeri standards," police late in the evening on December 27
knocked on the doors of at least four bureau reporters demanding that
they accompany them to the prosecutor's office for questioning. An
additional eight journalists were told to report for questioning
on Monday.
"These people are being dragged to the prosecutor's office by force
and by threats," said one of the lawyers, who asked that his name be
withheld out of concerns for his personal safety. "By being summoned
over the weekend, they are being denied the opportunity to have
any legal defense, despite the fact that by Azeri law a witness is
normally summoned by phone or official summons to enable a lawyer to
be present."
RFE/RL Editor in Chief and Co-CEO Nenad Pejic condemned the police
action, and said Azeri authorities are "terrorizing our staff and
their families."
In one case, a journalist's mother answered the door and was told by
police that RFE/RL's bureau is closed and that the daughter must go
with them to have "a conversation." In addition to the journalists,
the bureau's cleaning woman was also confronted at her home by
Azeri police.
The employees, who have all requested legal representation for their
questioning sessions, have been told they will be taken by force to
the prosecutor's office if they do not cooperate. A lawyer for the
bureau who demanded that his clients' right to counsel be respected
was threatened by Iqbal Huseynov, a senior investigator in the case,
with being disbarred.
Siyavoush Novruzov, deputy executive secretary for the ruling Yeni
Azerbaijan party, commented on the raid on Friday, characterizing it
as a national security issue. Speaking to the local web portal Media
Forum, he said, "Every place that works for foreign intelligence and
the Armenian lobby should be searched."
In a related development, a Baku court yesterday heard and rejected
the appeal of investigative reporter and RFE/RL contributor Khadija
Ismayilova, who remains in prison after being sentenced on December
5 to two months' detention on charges of inciting a colleague to
attempt suicide.
In an environment of total government control over national media,
RFE/RL's Azerbaijani Service, Radio Azadliq has built a solid
reputation as one of the only independent outlets in Azerbaijan. On
the air since 1953, Radio Azadliq content is available in Azerbaijan
via satellite, the Internet and social media including YouTube and
Facebook.
RFE/RL is a private, independent international news organization
whose programs -- radio, Internet, television, and mobile -- reach
influential audiences in 21 countries, including Russia, Iran, Iraq,
Afghanistan, Pakistan, the republics of Central Asia and the Caucasus.
It is funded by the U.S. Congress through the Broadcasting Board of
Governors (BBG).
RFE/RL was headquartered at Englischer Garten in Munich, Germany,
from 1949 to 1995. In 1995, the headquarters moved to Prague. In
addition to the headquarters, the service maintains 20 local bureaus
in countries throughout their broadcast region, as well as a corporate
office in Washington, D.C.
Edited from information provided by RFR/RL and other sources
http://www.praguepost.com/world-news/43533-rfe-rl-journalists-rounded-up-in-baku
Prague Post, Czech Republic
Dec 29 2014
Police going to reporters' homes and denied the right to counsel
WASHINGTON -- Dec 27, 2014 -- Journalists with RFE/RL's Azerbaijani
Service reported that police are pursuing them individually, going
directly to their homes to take them in for questioning following a
raid on the service's Baku bureau Dec. 26.
In a move the bureau's legal team is calling "unprecedented -
even by Azeri standards," police late in the evening on December 27
knocked on the doors of at least four bureau reporters demanding that
they accompany them to the prosecutor's office for questioning. An
additional eight journalists were told to report for questioning
on Monday.
"These people are being dragged to the prosecutor's office by force
and by threats," said one of the lawyers, who asked that his name be
withheld out of concerns for his personal safety. "By being summoned
over the weekend, they are being denied the opportunity to have
any legal defense, despite the fact that by Azeri law a witness is
normally summoned by phone or official summons to enable a lawyer to
be present."
RFE/RL Editor in Chief and Co-CEO Nenad Pejic condemned the police
action, and said Azeri authorities are "terrorizing our staff and
their families."
In one case, a journalist's mother answered the door and was told by
police that RFE/RL's bureau is closed and that the daughter must go
with them to have "a conversation." In addition to the journalists,
the bureau's cleaning woman was also confronted at her home by
Azeri police.
The employees, who have all requested legal representation for their
questioning sessions, have been told they will be taken by force to
the prosecutor's office if they do not cooperate. A lawyer for the
bureau who demanded that his clients' right to counsel be respected
was threatened by Iqbal Huseynov, a senior investigator in the case,
with being disbarred.
Siyavoush Novruzov, deputy executive secretary for the ruling Yeni
Azerbaijan party, commented on the raid on Friday, characterizing it
as a national security issue. Speaking to the local web portal Media
Forum, he said, "Every place that works for foreign intelligence and
the Armenian lobby should be searched."
In a related development, a Baku court yesterday heard and rejected
the appeal of investigative reporter and RFE/RL contributor Khadija
Ismayilova, who remains in prison after being sentenced on December
5 to two months' detention on charges of inciting a colleague to
attempt suicide.
In an environment of total government control over national media,
RFE/RL's Azerbaijani Service, Radio Azadliq has built a solid
reputation as one of the only independent outlets in Azerbaijan. On
the air since 1953, Radio Azadliq content is available in Azerbaijan
via satellite, the Internet and social media including YouTube and
Facebook.
RFE/RL is a private, independent international news organization
whose programs -- radio, Internet, television, and mobile -- reach
influential audiences in 21 countries, including Russia, Iran, Iraq,
Afghanistan, Pakistan, the republics of Central Asia and the Caucasus.
It is funded by the U.S. Congress through the Broadcasting Board of
Governors (BBG).
RFE/RL was headquartered at Englischer Garten in Munich, Germany,
from 1949 to 1995. In 1995, the headquarters moved to Prague. In
addition to the headquarters, the service maintains 20 local bureaus
in countries throughout their broadcast region, as well as a corporate
office in Washington, D.C.
Edited from information provided by RFR/RL and other sources
http://www.praguepost.com/world-news/43533-rfe-rl-journalists-rounded-up-in-baku