Entries from May 2008 ↓

03 May 2008 [10:14] - Today.Az
Day.Az interview with deputy Interior Minister of Azerbaijan Asker Alekperov.

-Now, let’s speak about the problems of elder persons. How can you respond to the announcements of the opposition about violation of the rights of freedom of assembly, especially in the election period?

-I do not think that conditions for conduction of meetings, state of freedom of speech and other liberties are on the level, the opposition speaks about. We have no problems here and all conditions have been created for citizens to conduct meetings. Yet, democracy has definite limits everywhere. Democracy does not imply that a person may conduct meetings wherever and however he wants. All these issues are regulated by the due legislation and it should be observed. If the action complies with the law, it will not be prohibited.

/Day.Az/

URL: http://www.today.az/news/society/44745.html

05 May 2008 [11:16] - Today.Az

Musavat, one of the leading opposition parties of Azerbaijan, intends to hold unsanctioned rallies.

The due announcement was made by head of the party Executive Board Arif Hajili at the Medjlis session.

According to him, the Musavat party does not intend to agree with the bans of the Baku city administration.

“Experience of previous elections shows that without holding unsanctioned rallies it is impossible to attain better conditions for mass actions. Therefore, we intend to hold unsanctioned actions”, said Hajili.

He was supported unanimously by the party Medjlis members.

/Day.Az/

04 May 2008 [02:06] - Today.Az

US Embassy to Azerbaijan disagrees with statement of Ramiz Mehtiyev, Head of Azerbaijan’s Presidential Executive Office.

Jonathan Henick, chief of PR Department of the US Embassy in Azerbaijan, stated to the reporter of “Kavkazskiy uzel”, that mentioning by President Bush of Azerbaijan among countries with the highest numbers of convicted journalists is based on concrete facts and is true.

“These figures refer to 2007. By the end of that year some of journalists were released and situation now is relatively different. That’s why the assessment of the US President for year 2007 is correct”, stressed Henick.

05 May 2008 [17:25] - Today.Az

The speech of US Ambassador to Azerbaijan Anne Derse, made during her visit to the north-western region of Azerbaijan:

Ladies and gentlemen,

Thank you for inviting me. It is an honor to celebrate World Press Freedom Day in the Center that is named after the National Hero of Azerbaijan, courageous journalist Chingiz Mustafayev, who fell while performing his duties as a journalist in 1991.

“Our liberty depends on freedom of the press and that cannot be limited without being lost.” So spoke Thomas Jefferson over 200 years ago. Without a free press, citizens have no access to independent information about their government and its policies and performance. Without a free press, citizens do not have the information they need to hold government accountable, and consequently, the risk of corruption, malfeasance and mismanagement is great, especially in an oil rich state. Without a free press, there can be no public exchange of ideas about national challenges and priorities Without a free press, there is no real freedom.

That is why it is important that governments that respect freedom vigorously uphold the right of journalists to work freely, without fear of violence and persecution, and why it is important that media adhere to the highest ethical and professional standards in carrying out their important responsibility to inform the public. Criticism of the government and government leaders is not treason, it is a hallmark of true democracy. The US believes that libel and defamation should not be criminal offences, journalists should not be imprisoned for expressing their views, incidents of violence or harassment against journalists to intimidate them into silence should be vigorously investigated and prosecuted and governments in developing democracies should work with civil society to develop a free, independent and objective media to defend the people’s rights.

Speaking as the representative of a government which supports Azerbaijan’s independence and sovereignty, which has great respect for the people of Azerbaijan and for Azerbaijan’s history, culture and accomplishments, and for Azerbaijan’s great potential as a leader in the region, I must say that the recent physical attacks and the ongoing smear campaign against Azadliq journalist Agil Halil and continuing pressure and threats against pro-opposition and independent journalists show that development of the independent media as a strong institution to support Azerbaijan’s democratic development is under attack. Current attitudes towards the media are more reminiscent of Azerbaijan’s Soviet past than its democratic future. Many Azerbaijanis and international observers who support Azerbaijan’s goals of maintaining independence and promoting freedom, in the face of strong regional pressures, share this view.

Throughout his short but meaningful life, Chingiz Mustafayev fought for his people’s right to know. He traveled to the zones, swept by war to report on tragic consequences of war and its innocent victims. Scenes from Khojali, taped by Chingiz Mustafayev shook the world and still continue to touch all peace-loving peoples. These works demonstrate Chingiz’s courage and commitment to his motherland, his profession, and the principle of media freedom. The best way to honor his memory - and those of other pioneering Azerbaijani journalists - is for us to support all journalists seeking to exercise that fundamental democratic right in support of Azerbaijan’s democratic future, and freedom for all Azerbaijanis.

Independent journalism serves the public by addressing and stimulating a debate on issues of national concern. Just as Chingiz did, journalists today have a responsibility to report on key issues of national import, including Nagorno-Karabakh, Azerbaijan’s democratic reforms, the use of its energy revenues, and corruption. I am doubly happy to see the young generation of Azerbaijani journalists guided by the courageous work of those, like Chingiz Mustafayev, who made today’s journalism in Azerbaijan possible.

Ladies and gentlemen, please join me in renewing our commitment to media freedom and wishing success to all the journalists in Azerbaijan and everywhere else in the world.

Thank you.

03 May 2008 [14:37] - Today.Az

Head of Azerbaijan’s Presidential Administration Ramiz Mehtiyev regards Washington’s allocation of over $3 mln for implementation of programs for support to democratic presidential elections in Azerbaijan in October of this year as the US interference with the internal affairs of Azerbaijan. “The US would not allow interference of any country with internal processes, so why should it occur with Azerbaijan?”, he told reporters and added that “such step of the United States is incorrect”. It should be noted that earlier the US ambassador to Azerbaijan Anne Derse announced that Washington has allocated over $3,000,000 for implementation of programs aimed to support efforts of the Azerbaijani authorities to hold free and democratic elections in October and noted that “support of democratic reforms in Azerbaijan is a US priority”. The said programs are aimed to ensure supremacy of laws, interests of civil society, development of independent press, respect and observance of human rights. According to Novosti-Azerbaijan, Ramiz Mehtiyev said that international organizations and separate countries try to put pressure on Azerbaijan. “However, despite it, Azerbaijan will hold transparent and democratic elections”, he said.

03 May 2008 [14:12] - Today.Az

Condoleezza Rice’s statement addressed to Azerbaijan is extremely unfounded.

According to it, the socio-political situation and other matters are alright in Armenia and Georgia, and Azerbaijan is the only backward state of the region,” said Ramiz Mehtiyev, Head of Azerbaijan’s Presidential Executive Office. He dismissed Rice’s remarks as illogical. “It can be deduced from Rice’s statement that March events in Armenia should be repeated in Azerbaijan so that she say good things about us. I view her words as an unfounded statement,” he added. /APA/

I’ve finally moved Freedom of the Press in Azerbaijan articles to this page. They will mostly be simple copies from Today.az     They were found at another blog I made - this page.

Being an expat, some things may be more painful for me than locals who often seem to have a resigned acceptance to the way things are in this country.  I haven’t met one local who is optimistic about democracy in this country.  People see the only solution as emigrating.  My hope is that this blog records a movement towards uninterrupted freedom of the press, which is a fundamental requirement for the establishing and maintenance of democracy.