User:Davide Denti (OBC)/sandbox/Azerbaijan

The media of Azerbaijan refers to mass media outlets based in the Republic of Azerbaijan. Television, magazines, and newspapers are all operated by both state-owned and for-profit corporations which depend on advertising, subscription, and other sales-related revenues.

The Constitution of Azerbaijan guarantees freedom of speech, but this is denied in practice. After several years of decline in press and media freedom, in 2014 the media environment in Azerbaijan deteriorated fast under a governmental campaign to silence any opposition and criticism, even while the country led the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe (May-November 2014). Spurious legal charges and impunity in violence against journalists have remained the norm. All foreign broadcasts are banned in the country.

Legislative framework

The legislative framework on freedom of speech and access to information include the Constitution of Azerbaijan, the Mass Media Law, and the Law on the Right to Obtain Information. Yet, the rights afforded by these legislative instruments are severely restricted in practice. For instance, since 2009 journalists are not allowed to film or photograph individuals without their consent, even at public events.

The norms on access to information (as well as others) have been amended after 2012, following a RFE/RL series of reports on large-scale corruption involving the Aliyev family. The amendments allow for-profit companies to withhold information on their registration, ownership and structure, thus limiting journalists' ability to uncover corruption and identify the assets of politicians and public figures.

Defamation remains a criminal offense in Azerbaijan, and may be punished with large fines and up to 3 years in jail. "Disseminating information that damages the honor and dignity of the president" is a criminal offense (Article 106 of the Constitution and Article 323 of the Criminal Code), punishable with up to two years of prison - which may rise to five if in conjunction with other criminal charges. This has been decried as an excessive limitation on freedom of expression by international bodies. Since 2013, defamation laws apply to online contents too. The Azerbaijan Supreme Court has suggested that the norms on defamation are amended to be brought in line with ECHR standards, but this has not happened yet.

The Law on Grants and the Law on NGOs, amended in 2014, limit the capacities of local NGOs - including media rights groups - to receive foreign funding.

Other legislative measures - from hooliganism to the possession of drugs and weapons, treason, and tax evasion - are regularly used by authorities to punish and prevent critical reporting.

Status and self-regulation of journalists

Most journalists in Azerbaijan can only work without employment contracts or job security, receiving only irregular wages. Critical journalists are at risk of physical attacks, judicial prosecution, political and economical pressures.

Media outlets

Print and broadcast media in Azerbaijan are almost wholly under control of the ruling Aliyev family, eventually through friendly intermediaries. Ownership opacity is backed by law. Azerbaijan hosts 9 national TV stations (of which a public service broadcaster and 3 more state-run channels), over 12 regional TV stations, 25 radio channels, over 30 daily newspapers. Opposition media manages to work on the perpetual brink of survival.

Print media

Main article: List of newspapers in Azerbaijan

There are 3500 publication titles formally registered in Azerbaijan. The vast majority of them are published in Azerbaijani. The remaining 130 are published in Russian (70), English (50) and other languages (Turkish, French, German, Arabic, Persian, Armenian, etc.).

Registered daily newspapers are more than 30. The most widely read are the critical Yeni Musavat and Azadlıq papers. Critical newspapers remain under political, judicial and economic pressures, and have been particularly hit by the removal of Qasid and Qaya distribution companies' kiosks from central Baku in 2012. In May 2014 Zerkalo gave up on print publications due to financial losses.

Azerbaijani newspapers can be split into more serious-minded newspapers, usually referred to as broadsheets due to their large size, and sometimes known collectively as "the quality press".

Radio broadcasting

Main article: Radio in Azerbaijan

As of 2014, Azerbaijan has 9 AM stations, 17 FM stations, and one shortwave station. Additionally, there are approximately 4,350,000 radios in existence. Primary network provider is the Ministry of Communications and Information Technologies of Azerbaijan (MCIT). According to MCIT, the FM radio penetration rate is 97% according to 2014 data.

Television broadcasting

Main pages: Television in Azerbaijan and Category:Television stations in Azerbaijan

There are three state-owned television channels: AzTV, Idman TV and Medeniyyet TV. One public channel and 6 private channels: İctimai Television, ANS TV, Space TV, Lider TV, Azad Azerbaijan TV, Xazar TV and Region TV.

Azerbaijan has a total of 47 television channels, of which 4 are public television channels and 43 are private television channels of which 12 are national television channels and 31 regional television channels. According to the Ministry of Communications and Information Technologies of Azerbaijan (MCIT), the television penetration rate is 99% according to 2014 data. The penetration rate of cable television in Azerbaijan totaled 28.1% of households in 2013, from a study by the State Statistical Committee of the Azerbaijan Republic. Almost 39% of the cable television subscriber base is concentrated in major cities. The penetration rate is 59.1% in the city of Baku.

From 2010 to 2014, the Institute for Reporters' Freedom and Safety (IRFS) produced Obyektiv TV, an online news channel with daily coverage on freedom of expression and human rights.

Cinema

Scene from the Azerbaijani film "In oil and millions kingdom", 1916

The first film studio in Baku established in the 1920s.

Main articles: Cinema of Azerbaijan and Azerbaijani animation

The film industry in Azerbaijan dates back to 1898. In fact, Azerbaijan was among the first countries involved in cinematography. Therefore, it's not surprising that this apparatus soon showed up in Baku – at the start of the 20th century, this bay town on the Caspian was producing more than 50 percent of the world's supply of oil. Just like today, the oil industry attracted foreigners eager to invest and to work.

In 1919, during the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic, a documentary The Celebration of the Anniversary of Azerbaijani Independence was filmed on Azerbaijan's independence day, 28 May, and premiered in June 1919 at several theatres in Baku. After the Soviet power was established in 1920, Nariman Narimanov, Chairman of the Revolutionary Committee of Azerbaijan, signed a decree nationalizing Azerbaijan's cinema. This also influenced the creation of Azerbaijani animation.

In 1991, after Azerbaijan gained its independence from the Soviet Union, the first Baku International Film Festival East-West was held in Baku. In December 2000, the former President of Azerbaijan, Heydar Aliyev, signed a decree proclaiming 2 August to be the professional holiday of filmmakers of Azerbaijan. Today Azerbaijani filmmakers are again dealing with issues similar to those faced by cinematographers prior to the establishment of the Soviet Union in 1920. Once again, both choice of content and sponsorship of films are largely left up to the initiative of the filmmaker.

Telecommunications

Main article: Telecommunications in Azerbaijan

The Azerbaijan economy has been markedly stronger in recent years and, not surprisingly, the country has been making progress in developing ICT sector. Nonetheless, it still faces problems. These include poor infrastructure and an immature telecom regulatory regime. The Ministry of Communications and Information Technologies of Azerbaijan (MCIT), as well as being an operator through its role in Aztelekom, is both a policy-maker and regulator.

Internet

Main article: Internet in Azerbaijan

61% of the population of Azerbaijan had access to internet in 2014, although this is mainly concentrated in Baku and other cities. Social networks as Facebook and Twitter are common and are used to share indipendent informations and point of views.

Media Organisations

Media agencies

The Law on Grants and the Law on NGOs, amended in 2014, limit the capacities of local NGOs - including media rights groups - to receive foreign funding.

Azerbaijan's main media watchdogs were the Institute for Reporters' Freedom and Safety (IRFS) and the Media Rights Institute (MRI). They both ceased operations in August 2014, after being forecefully evicted from their premises by police forces. This was the latest action in a series of harassing moves by the Azerbaijani authorities, starting from the freeze of bank accounts up to allegations of unpaid taxes, fines, and criminal charges. From 2010 to 2014, the Institute for Reporters' Freedom and Safety (IRFS) produced Obyektiv TV, an online news channel with daily coverage on freedom of expression and human rights.

The International Research and Exchange Board (IREX), an international NGO working to reinforce independent media in Azerbaijan, ceased operations in September 2014 after its premises were raided, its equipment seized and its bank accounts frozen by the authorities.

Regulatory authorities

The National Television and Radio Council (NTRC) is the media regulator of Azerbaijan. Its 9 members are appointed by the government, without limited terms (only 7 of them were active in 2014). The NTRC has been criticized for an opaque licensing process, biased in favour of state-owned broadcasters.

Since 2009 the BBC, RFE/RL, and Voice of America are off air in Azerbaijan, since NTRC banned foreign broadcasters. In 2012 all foreign television shows were banned.

Censorship and media freedom

Main articles: Censorship in Azerbaijan and Human rights in Azerbaijan

Despite the existence of independent news outlets, journalists who criticize the government are often severely harassed, imprisoned, and even physically assaulted. In the 2013-14 Press Freedom Index published by Reporters Without Borders, Azerbaijan ranked 160th out of an overall total of 180 nations. Azerbaijan is ranked 'Not Free' by Freedom House in its annual Freedom of the Press survey with a score of 79 out of 100. The three broadcasting stations BBC, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and Voice of America, which were the only ones that ensured political pluralism for its citizens, are banned in Azerbaijan since 2009.

The authorities use a range of measures to restrict freedom of the media within the country. Opposition and independent media outlets and journalists have their access to print-houses and distribution networks limited, or can find themselves facing defamation charges and crippling fines and are subject to intimidation tactics, including imprisonment on fabricated charges.

Azerbaijan has the biggest number of journalists imprisoned in Europe and Central Asia in 2015, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists, and is the 5th most censored country in the world, ahead of Iran and China.

Most Azerbaijanis receive their information from mainstream television, which is unswervingly pro-government and under strict government control. According a 2012 report of the NGO "Institute for Reporters’ Freedom and Safety (IRFS)" Azerbaijani citizens are unable to access objective and reliable news on human rights issues relevant to Azerbaijan and the population is under-informed about matters of public interest.

During the last few years, three journalists were killed and several prosecuted in trials described as unfair by international human rights organizations.

Reporters Without Borders has called on the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) to firmly condemn Azerbaijan for tolerating escalating press freedom violations.

Activists such as Sing For Democracy and Amnesty International brought up the issues of Azerbaijan's rights as it hosted the 2012 Eurovision Song Contest, after the song Running Scared by duet Ell and Nikki won the 2011 contest (these activists described its title as ironic.) The issues included harassment of journalists, and the organisations met with the EBU on 1 May 2012 to discuss the problems.

Attacks and threats against journalists

Threats, physical attacks, harrasment against journalists are common. Nearly 100 journalists were victims of physical assault in 2003. More than 50 were attacked covering violent clashes between the security forces and demonstrators after the 2003 presidential elections. The International Federation of Journalists reocerded 15 attacks on journalists in 2013.

• Two opposition journalists were attacked in July 2004. Aydin Guliyev, editor of the opposition daily Baki Khaber, was abducted and beaten by men that accused him of "not serving his country and Islam" and warned him to stop all journalistic work on 17 July 2004.
• Eynulla Fatullayev, editor-in-chief of Gundelik Azerbaijan and Realniy Azerbaijan newspapers, was beaten on the head in a Baku street on 26 July 2004. He has written many articles highly critical of the government and was accused by the Azerbaijani government of claiming that the Khojaly massacre was committed by Azerbaijanis and not Armenians, while Fatullayev himself according to a 2007 Azerbaijani media report denies that he made such claims. However, in May 2011, Eynulla Fatullayev defended his 2005 comments which held Azerbaijani fighters and not Armenians responsible for the Khojaly massacre.
• Elmar Huseynov, editor-in-chief of the opposition weekly Monitor, was shot dead in 2005, but there has been no prosecution of his murderers. On the 10th anniversary of his assassination, the OSCE RFoM called for an end to impunity.
• In 2011 the journalists and writer Rafig Tagi was murdered. Nobody was charged for the homicide.
• In November 2012 the journalists Farahim Ilgaroglu (Yeni Musafat), Etimad Budagov (Turan Information Agency), Amid Suleymanov (Media Forum) and Rasim Aliyev (IRFS) were beaten and arrested by police while covering an opposition rallyin Baku, despite being clearly identifiable as members of the press.

• On 25 Aprile 2014 the Yeni Musafat reporter Farahim Ilgaroglu was attacked outside his home in Baku.

• In August 2014, the indipendent journalist Ilgar Nasibov was beaten in his office in the Nakhchivan exclave. He lost vision from one eye.

• Rasim Aliyev, freelance reported and chairman of the media monitoring group Institute for Reporters' Freedom and Safety (IRFS) was brutally beaten by multiple people in Baku on 8 August. He died the following days from injuries caused by the attack. The OSCE RFoM protested with the authorities and called upon them to reverse the rapidly deteriorating media freedom situation in Azerbaijan.

• In November 2015 journalists of ITV and ATV channels were attacked during a police raid against alleged Islamic radicals in the village of Nardaran, on the outskirts of Baku. The OSCE RFoM protested with the authorities.

• In January 2016 Gunay Ismayilova, a media lawyer and deputy chair of the Institute for Reporter's Freedom and Safety (IRFS) was physically attacked at the entrance of her home in Baku, without suffeering serious injuries thanks to the intervention of neighbours.

Other legislative measures - from hooliganism to the possession of drugs and weapons, treason, and tax evasion - are regularly used by authorities to punish and prevent critical reporting.

Unfair trials and imprisoned journalists

Azerbaijani authorities have imprisoned several notable journalists. The Committee to Protect Journalists has stated the charges against many journalists are "fabricated" and "politicized". At the end of 2014, eight journalists remained behind bars. International instances such as the Human Rights Commissioner of the Council of Europe have consistently refuted the justifications by the Azerbaijani authorities that jailed journalists had been prosecuted and sentenced for common crimes. Prison conditions for journalists are reported as dire, with routine ill-treatment and denial of medical care. More than 10 journalists remain in jail in Azerbaijan by the end of 2015. They include:

• Khadija Ismayilova, a reporter for Radio Azadliq, on charges of inciting a person to commit suicide, illegal business dealings and abuse of power;
• Rasul Jafarov, a free expression and free media advocate and human rights defender, on charges of embezzlement, illegal entrepreneurship, tax evasion, abuse of power;
• Seymur Hazi, a columnist for the newspaper Azadliq, on a charge of hooliganism;
• Omar Mamedov and Abdul Abilov, bloggers, on charges of illegal storage and sale of drugs;
• Parviz Hashimli, a journalist, on charges of smuggling and illegal storage and sale of firearms;
• Nijat Aliyev, editor-in-chief of the azadxeber.az news website, on various charges, including drug possession and inciting hatred;
• Rashad Ramazanov, an independent blogger, on charges of illegal storage and sale of drugs.

The full list of cases of imprisoned journalists in the last years is the following:

• Newspaper editor Eynulla Fatullayev was sentenced to eight and a half years in prison for reporting on the murder of Elmar Huseynov and published other views to which the Azerbaijani government objected. The European Court of Human Rights ruled in April 2010 that Fatullayev should be released, but he remains in prison and now faces new drug charges that observers find suspicious. Human rights organizations sent a joint letter to the Council of Europe about the continued imprisonment of Eynulla Fatullayev in defiance of the ruling and also sent a joint letter to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev urging Fatullayev’s release.

• In 2009, the bloggers Emin Milli and Adnan Hajizade were arrested under the charges of hooliganism and sentenced to two years and two and a half years in prison, respectively. They were released in November 2010.

• In August 2011, authorities imprisoned Ramin Bayramov, the editor of the Islamic news website Islam-Azeri.az. His news website has previously criticized the government of Azerbaijan. Azerbaijani authorities first charged Bayramov with "activities hostile to the country" and "incitement to mass disorder." After failing to prove those charges, the authorities then charged him with drugs and weapons possession. The Azerbaijan Department of Homeland Security said it found arms and drugs in his garage, but Bayramov said those were planted there.

• Goychay-based blogger and activist Taleh Khasmammadov was arrested in November 2011 shortly after publishing an article accusing local police of collaborating with drug traffickers. He was later sentenced to four years' imprisonment for hooliganism, causing Amnesty International to adopt him as a prisoner of conscience.

• In February 2012, police arrested Anar Bayramli, a journalist for Iranian television, on a charge of heroin possession. The charge was described by several human rights organizations as fabricated for political reasons.

• In September 2013 Parviz Hashimli, journalist of Bizim Yoi newspaper and editor of the independent news website Moderator, was arrested for smuggling weapons possession. He was sentenced to 8 years in May 2014. The judgment was decried by EU and human rights watchdogs. Hashimli was known for his reporting on the corruption and human rights abuses in the circle of the Aliyev family. The Institute for Reporters' Freedom and Safety described the arrest as a deliberate attempt to influence journalists, in the run-up to the Azerbaijani presidential election, 2013
• In November 2013 online activist Abdul Abilov was arrested on dubious charges of drugs trafficking.
• In January 2014 blogger Omar Mammadov was arrested on dubious charges of drugs trafficking.

• Journalist Rauf Mirgadirov, corrispondent of the Russian-language newspaper Zerkalo and a believer in "citizen diplomacy" between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, was arrested in Turkey and deported to Azerbaijan, for allegedly spying for Armenia and has been detained since April 2014. Rauf Mirgadirov's charges are largely seen as "trumped-up" and his arrest was condemned by the Human Rights Watch, European Union officials, World Organisation Against Torture, International Federation for Human Rights, Committee to Protect Journalists, Reporters Without Borders, United States Mission to the OSCE, and others. In December 2015 he was again handed down a new sentence to 6 years in a high-security prison for high treason, in a trial which has been described as politicised by several international bodies.

• In April 2014, prominent human rights defenders Leyla Yunus , at the head of Institute for Peace and Democracy, and her husband Arif Yunus were detained by the authorities for allegedly spying for Armenia. Leyla Yunus has been sentenced to three months of pretrial detention, and her husband Arif has separately been jailed. The detention of the Yunus has raised big international outcry. Prominent international organizations such as Amnesty International, Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, United States Mission to the OSCE, Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, Nobel Women's Initiative, Reporters Without Borders, Human Rights Watch and others have harshly condemned their detention as another step in the state crackdown on civil society in Azerbaijan and called for their immediate release.

• In May 2014 Anar Mammadili, chairman of the Election Monitoring and Democracy Centre, ended with harsh sentences. The OSCE/ODIHR denounced it as a "concerted campaign of harassment and intimidation".

• In August 2014 Seymur Hezi, critical reporter of Azadliq was arrested under charges of hooliganism.

• In August 2014 human rights defenders Intiqam Aliyev, head of Legal Education Society, and Rasul Jafarov, head of Human Rights Club, were arrested and the working of these two organizations were impeded.
• The blogger Elsevar Mursalli was resealed in October following a pardon, after being imprisoned on drug charges.
• In December 2014, Khadija Ismaylova was arrested on trumped-up charges, being accused of having driven to suicide a co-worker.
• In December 2014, a Presidential pardon let to the release of Nota Bene chief editor Sardar Alibeyli and of Khural chief editor Avaz Zeynalli.

• In April 2015 the free expression and free media advocate and human rights defender Rasul Jafarov was condemned to six and a half years in a penal colony on charges of embezzlement, illegal entrepreneurship, tax evasion, abuse of power and forgery committed by a civil servant - which he fully denied. The OSCE RFoM defined the sentence as "nothing short of an act of injustice" and part of a "systematic and wide-scale persecution of independent voices in Azerbaijan".

Refusal of access and arbitrary expulsions

A number of foreign journalists have also been refused entry to Azerbaijan or have been expelled from the country for reporting unfavorably on domestic and foreign matters.

• In June 2011, Diana Markosian, a freelance photographer for Bloomberg Markets magazine who holds dual US-Russian citizenship, was denied entry by Azerbaijani border officials at Heydar Aliyev International Airport in Baku on account of the fact that she was Armenian.
• In the same month, a journalist for the New York Times was told that he would not be issued a visa until he could explain why there was so much "negative information" about Azerbaijan in the United States.
• In April 2011, a Swedish TV news crew was arrested and sent back to the airport after covering a demonstration by opposition protesters.
• The Embassy of Azerbaijan to Italy publishes online a black list of personae non gratae and uses it to punish journalists who visit the Armenian-occupied territories of Nagorno Karabakh

Political interferences

The president Ilham Aliyev and his party control most of media and informations, despite the official 1998 ban on censorship. Political parties use economic pressure to control the media, mostly throught advertisement.

• After a week of harrasments the Institute for Reporters’ Freedom and Safety (IRFS) and the Media Rights Institute were forced to fled the country in August 2014. Obyektiv TV, the tv programm of IRFS, was showing stories about freedom of expression and human rights. In the same days the International Research and Exchanges Board (IREX), who was supporting indipendent media, had to close his office.

• In December 2014 the Baku office of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty was closed down by the authorities following a trumped-up criminal case. RFE/RL journalists were individually targeted, taken from homes for police questioning.

Defamation lawsuits

Defamation is a criminal offense punishable by up to three years in prison. As the same time journalists that damage the honor and the dignity of the president can be punished up to two years in prison. The goverment in this way can make pressure on indipendent journalists and oppositional media. Since 2013 defamation include internet content, too.

• The newspaper Azadliq was accused several times of defamation and, after having paid high fines, stopped in July 2014 the print version due to financial problems.
• In 2014 the investigative journalist Khadija Ismayilova was tried under defamation charges.

Cyber-attacks

In the recent years had strengthen the control on the internet activites of bloggers, social-media activists and journalists.. The blogger Elsevar Mursalli was imprisoned for alleged drug possession and released in October.

In 2013 the goverment blocked an image-sharing website about security service. As the same time, Azadliq and RFE/RL (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty) reported cyber-attacks.

Smear campaigns

• Since 2012 the leading investigative journalist Khadija Ismayilova of Radio Free Europe had been a frequent target of harassment, blackmail and online smear campaigns. Ismaylova was subject to gross violation of her privacy, and secretely-recorded intimate images of her were posted online in March 2013 in an attempt to discredit her. She called upon the European Court of Human Rights to order Azerbaijani authorities to protect her from threats and violences in October 2013. In 2014 she was tried and imprisoned.

• Azeri journalist and human rights activist Arzu Geybullayeva has received numerous threats in various social media circles stemming from Azerbaijan over her cooperation with the Armenian newspaper Agos.Arzu Geybullayeva, freelance journalist (video) In an interview with Global Voices, she stated that she branded as a "traitor" and that the blackmail escalated into death threats towards her and her family. The threats have caused her to refrain from visiting her native Azerbaijan in a self-imposed exile in Turkey. The threats were largely condemned by numerous international organizations including PEN International and its affiliates English PEN and PEN Center USA. PEN has called upon the Azerbaijani and Turkish government to "ensure her safety and to investigate all threats of violence made against her." The Index on Censorship has also condemned the threats and has called upon the "international community to put pressure on Azerbaijan to respect freedom of expression."

Internet censorship and surveillance

The Azerbaijani government has increased its control over the internet, harassing social media activists, bloggers an online journalists. The email and telephone communications of journalists have been denounced as under surveillance. Real-life intimidations are used to deter online criticism, rather than content blocking. Legal norms criminalising online defamation have deterred social media mobilisation too, together with the arrests of bloggers and activists. DDoS attacks against independent outlets such as Azadliq and RFE/RL have been reported.

See also

• Human rights in Azerbaijan