media rights
Two Azeri Bloggers receive prison terms
On 11th November, despite huge international and internal pressure, Sabail District Court of Baku presided by Justice Araz Huseynov convicted two Azerbaijani bloggers Emin Milli and Adnan Hajizade on controversial hooliganism charges.
Barack Obama singles out Azerbaijan
In his statement in honor of World Press Freedom Day, U.S. President Barack Obama singled out Azerbaijan among the "corner[s] of the globe" where journalists are in jail or being actively harassed: In every corner of the globe, there are journalists in jail or being actively harassed: from Azerbaijan to Zimbabwe, Burma to Uzbekistan, Cuba […]
Leading Azeri Online News Portal Shuts Down
Not so long ago, on 12 February, Anar Mamedkhanov, founder of Day.az, leading Azeri media outlet, and one of the biggest online news portals in Caucasus warned his Armenian colleagues: Gentlemen, wake up, it is XXI century, year 2009 (just in case to remind you of), only day.az with the quantity of its visits and […]
Azerbaijan bans foreign broadcasts while preparing for a constitutional referendum
In the last days of 2008, Azerbaijan’s National Council for Television and Radio has banned international radio stations from broadcasting on national frequencies. The decision went effective on the 1st of January removing three radio stations from FM band – VOA, BBC and Azadliq (“Liberty”), RFE/RL’s Azeri service. With another decision, Parliament of Azerbaijan approved […]
Constitutional Court at the focus of controversies
The highest judicial instance in Azerbaijan, the Constitutional Court "is considering amendments that would ban the broadcast or publication of video, audio, or photographs of any person without his or her prior approval, except in yet-to-be defined special cases", reports RFE/RL. According to local media law expert Alasgar Mammadli, if these amendments get approval, the […]