Georgia’s arrest of the head of an independent broadcaster at the request of Azeri officials is the latest in a nearly year-long media crackdown by Azerbaijan, according to a report published this week.
Azel TV chief Afgan Sadygov is in detention in Georgia pending extradition after Azeri officials ordered his arrest on charges of extortion and threatening to spread insulting statements. But a media watchdog says the case is part of a broader trend where legal action is used to pressure local journalists.
The London-based Justice for Journalists Foundation recorded 147 cases of attacks and threats against journalists, media workers and bloggers in Azerbaijan in 2023.
“Attacks via judicial and/or economic means continued to be the primary method of exerting pressure on media workers,” said the report released Thursday.
Azerbaijan’s government-run Media Development Agency did not respond to VOA’s request for comment on the report and other allegations.
A number of arrests of journalists and a crackdown on independent media that began late last year has led to the arrest of many workers with media that criticize the government. Most have been accused of smuggling foreign currency, the report says.
The report cites the August 3 arrest of Sadygov as an example of Azerbaijan’s attempts to “silence its critcs abroad.” Sadygov was living in neighboring Georgia at the time of his arrest at Tbilisi airport.
Alya Yagublu, a political commentator and host of an analytical program on Toplum TV, believes the media arrests are directed at rooting out investigations related to corruption and criticism of government activities.
The crackdown came ahead of snap presidential and parliamentary elections, which led some analysts to believe the government was seeking to create a chilling effect and limit coverage.
The arrests have “led to the prosecution and arrest of many popular opposition media workers,” the Justice for Journalists Foundation report states. It said that more than a dozen journalists were detained in late 2023.
During the elections, media workers were also harassed and prevented from reporting on allegations of ballot-stuffing at polling stations.
Yagublu says some election commission officials and pro-government observers were aggressive toward media, sometimes demanding proof of accreditation or trying to block reporters from filming.
The Justice for Journalists report also flagged problems with a media law enacted in 2023 by President Ilham Aliyev. Under the law, media have to register in order to gain access to officials and news briefings.
The decision over who is eligible to register, which is rife with ambiguities, rests with state authorities, according to critics.
Since the registry came into effect, at least 10 independent media outlets have been formally refused entry, the report says. “The refusal to be included in the register imposes significant restrictions on the exercise of journalistic rights.”
The Venice Commission, an advisory board for the Council of Europe, which weighs in on constitutional matters, has stated that the law is reactionary and cannot be adopted in a country that is a member of the Council of Europe.
However, Zahid Oruj, chairperson of the Human Rights Committee of the Milli Majlis, a legislative brach of the Azeri government, told VOA that the registry is “a legal platform and database, that is similar to databases in all other areas.”
Rights defender Samir Kazimli said he believes that journalism in Azerbaijan has become an increasingly risky profession. Referring to legal threats and cases of physical attack, Kazimli said that if assailants who commit violations against journalists were brought to justice and punished under the law, the pressures against media would end.
“Unfortunately, in most cases, the authorities are behind the repressions against journalists. All this complicates their work,” Kazimli told VOA.
Yagublu believes that the state of freedom of speech and other human rights and freedoms in Azerbaijan will get worse. “The current geopolitical situation will present the Azerbaijani government with this opportunity," she said.
Azerbaijan ranks 164 out of 180 on the World Press Freedom Index, where 1 signals the best media environment.
This article originated in VOA’s Azeri Service.
