Joint Statement
As World
Press Freedom Day is celebrated across the globe on May 3, we, the undersigned
organizations, cannot forget the untenable price journalists pay for government
criticism in Azerbaijan. The case of Mehman
Huseynov is emblematic. Huseynov is a popular journalist and blogger in
Azerbaijan who is known for his hard-hitting exposés of alleged corruption by
senior Azerbaijani officials. In March 2017, a Baku court sentenced him to two
years in prison on charges of defaming an entire police station, after he gave
a statement in front of the courthouse in which he described the abuses he had
suffered at that police station.

On
January 9, a group of plain-clothes officers attacked Mehman Huseynov,
blindfolded and gagged him with towels, forced a bag over his head and took him
to the Nasimi district police station, where police used an electroshock weapon
on his groin, and punched him, bloodying his nose. The next day, officers took
him before a court that found him guilty of disobeying police orders and fined
him 200 manat (US$120).
Mehman Huseynov
remained defiant, went public about the abuses he suffered at the station, and
filed a complaint with the prosecutor’s office. The authorities formally opened
an inquiry into Huseynov’s allegations, but swiftly closed the inquiry claiming
the allegations were groundless. On April 27, an appeal court upheld the prosecutor’s
decision to shut down the investigation.
While
authorities refused to conduct a credible investigation into Huseynov’s torture
allegations, the Nasimi police chief brought a criminal lawsuit against him for
defamation. After just two hearings, a court found Huseynov guilty and sentenced
him to two years in prison.
Mehman Huseynov
has been targeted by the government for years, since the authorities brought
bogus criminal charges against the Institute for Reporters’ Freedom
and Safety (IRFS), founded by his brother, Emin Huseynov, who was forced to
flee the country for his own safety. Since 2012, Mehman Huseynov has
been under a travel ban and has been repeatedly harassed and
intimidated by the police.
The
imprisonment of Mehman Huseynov is
another step by the Azerbaijani authorities to retaliate against him for his
critical journalism and defiance, but also to deter others from seeking justice
for police abuse, a persistent and well-documented problem in Azerbaijan. At
least 5 other journalists and bloggers are currently in prison on politically
motivated charges in Azerbaijan.
On a day
when the world commemorates the fundamental importance of press freedom, we call
on the Azerbaijani authorities to immediately and unconditionally release Mehman
Huseynov and hold to account those responsible for the torture and other
ill-treatment he was subjected to. This would mark an important step towards ensuring
press freedoms and guaranteeing the right to freedom of expression in
Azerbaijan.
-
Amnesty
International
-
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19
-
Barys
Zvozskau Belarusian Human Rights House
-
Bir
Duino-Kyrgyzstan
-
Canadian
Journalists for Free Expression
-
Center
for Civil Liberties
-
Centre
for the Development of Democracy and Human Rights
-
Civil
Rights Defenders
-
Committee
to Protect Journalists
-
Dignity
-
English
PEN
-
FIDH,
under the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders
-
Freedom
Files
-
Front
Line Defenders
-
Golos
Svobody Kyrgyzstan
-
Human
Rights Club
-
Human
Rights First
-
Human
Rights House Foundation
-
Human
Rights Watch
-
IFEX
-
International
Media Support
-
International
Partnership for Human Rights
-
Institute
for Reporters’ Freedom and Safety
-
Kazakhstan
International Bureau for Human Rights and the Rule of Law
-
Netherlands
Helsinki Committee
-
Norwegian
Helsinki Committee
-
PEN
America
-
PEN
International
-
People
in Need
-
Regional
Center for Strategic Studies
-
Reporters
Without Borders (RSF)
-
World
Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), under the Observatory for the Protection
of Human Rights Defenders
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