Media Freedom in Azerbaijan

The Emergence of the National Press

The beginning of the formation of a free press is rightfully considered the opening of the Ekinchi newspaper (translated into Russian - “Plowman”) in the seventies of the nineteenth century. It is this newspaper that is a significant event in the history of the development of the Azerbaijani press, since it was this newspaper that was first published exclusively in the Azerbaijani language and distributed among the general population. Ekinchi played a significant role in spreading knowledge about agriculture , and contributed to the further development of the entire Azerbaijani press. Hasan-bek Zardabi, the founder of the newspaper, met considerable influence of censorship while working on the newspaper: the newspaper lasted only two years and was closed by tsarist officials. Nevertheless, the very fact of the existence of such a newspaper served as the beginning of a powerful movement for the creation and development of a free press in Azerbaijan. The opening date of Ekinchi (July 22, 1875) is celebrated in Azerbaijan as National Press Day ^[2] .

Press of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic

The next stage in the development of freedom of expression of the media is associated with the declaration of independence of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic . It was during this period that one can directly speak about the freedom of the Azerbaijani media, since the government really tried to realize democratic ideas, including through the provision of political rights and freedoms to citizens. Thus, by an order of the ADR government of November 9, 1918, control over the content, publication and distribution of the press and the media was abolished. Thanks to this act, all kinds of media were opened, even opposition to the mainstream government. So, the Bolshevik press was opened, the Socialist-Revolutionary-Menshevik opposition in opposition to it; Armenian-Dashnak press; non-partisan informational newspapers and magazines ^[3] . . In general, during the ADR, there was widespread freedom of the media .

Azerbaijani media during the Soviet era

Achievements of ADRs in the field of media freedom are leveled during the Soviet era. Censorship in the USSR spread widely to all media outlets, only governmental and pro-government organizations remained.

Transition to Modernity

The current stage of the media situation begins with the activities of national leader Heydar Aliyev. On August 6, 1998, censorship was abolished by decree in the country, which marked the beginning of a new round in the development of the Azerbaijani media. In 1999, the Law on the Media was adopted, which is still in force with some amendments. It was he who officially proclaimed a ban on state censorship ^[4] .

Despite the general proclamation in the legal sources of Azerbaijan of freedom of expression, many journalists with an opposition point of view are subjected to political persecution ^[5] . According to international studies, the freedom of press index in Azerbaijan is catastrophically low: Azerbaijan ranks 166 out of 180 countries ^[6] . Reporters without borders assigned this position to Azerbaijan, for which the Azerbaijani authorities sharply criticized this international organization.

“Reporters Without Borders” believes that the Azerbaijani authorities brutally suppress organizations that are opposed to the mainstream government. So, they claim that the sentence handed down to bastainfo site editor Mustafa Hajibayli is falsified. The editor criticized the behavior of the mayor of Ganja before the attempt on his life and the inaction of the authorities. Because of this article, the site was blocked, and Hajibeyli himself was allegedly convicted of calling for the overthrow of the government. Independent lawyers did not find the corpus delicti in the actions of Hajibayli ^[7] .

In fact, many journalists have been brutally attacked, threatened or unfairly punished. The resonant case was the murder of Elmar Huseynov, editor-in-chief of the opposition weekly newspaper Monitor. It is noteworthy that the murder was not investigated and no one was responsible for the crime. Huseynov was faced with constant threats and far-fetched accusations, after which he was shot dead ^[8] .

In 2015, exactly 10 years have passed since the death of the opposition journalist, in honor of which the OSCE held a meeting in his memory ^[9] . Participants called on countries to ensure the free development of the press and ensure that journalists can express their opinions and not be harassed.

Another case that has received international publicity is the criminal punishment of the well-known opposition blogger Mehman Huseynov. One of the main activities of the blogger Mehman is an investigation of the real estate of government officials, and therefore he is subjected to political persecution. In March 2017, a young man was sentenced to two years in prison, allegedly “for libel” ” ^[10] .

In addition, an attack on the filming crews of the ITV and ATV TV channels in 2015 is known. OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Dunja Mijatović condemned the fact of cruelty towards journalists ^[11] ..

In 2018, Freedom House international human rights organization conducted an international study on Internet freedom in different countries of the world. Azerbaijan occupies a border position between the categories of partially free and non-free countries, being in 60th place in the rating ^[12] . International independent researchers note that Azerbaijan purchases from Beijing and uses technologies for tracking Internet users.

The NGOs of Azerbaijan themselves criticized this Freedom House report, considering it superficial and groundless ^[13] ..

A serious obstacle to free expression of opinion on the Internet is, among other things, articles of the Criminal Code of the Azerbaijan Republic , which essentially impose serious penalties for defamation on the Internet ^[14] . Legal experts note that such articles restrict freedom of the Internet and enable the authorities to criminalize a significant portion of Internet users ^[15] .

• Press in Azerbaijan

• Azerbaijan media

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