AZERBAIJAN: MEDIA FREEDOM TRENDS RAISE

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BAKU 001231

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/18/2016
TAGS: PREL PGOV PHUM KDEM AJ
SUBJECT: AZERBAIJAN: MEDIA FREEDOM TRENDS RAISE
INTERNATIONAL CONCERN

REF: A. 05 BAKU 325

B. BAKU 1182

Classified By: Charge Jason P. Hyland for reasons 1.4 b and d.


1. (C) Summary: The past six months have seen the emergence
of disturbing trends in Azerbaijan's media climate. Senior
GOAJ officials, most prominently the Minister of the
Interior, have sued numerous journalists for civil and
criminal libel in response to criticism in the print press.
These lawsuits have resulted in several exorbitant court
fines and criminal charges against journalists. Two
high-profile physical assaults on journalists earlier this
year remain unresolved and the June arrest on drug charges of
a well-respected satirical commentator have stunned many in
civil society. In the background, human rights activists and
journalists continue to blame the government for failing to
bring anyone to justice for the 2005 murder of prominent
opposition journalist Elmar Huseynov (ref a). Separately, ANS
TV, Azerbaijan's largest and most watched television channel,
has not yet had its broadcasting license renewed by the media
regulatory authorities. These events signal a disturbing
decline in media freedoms. OSCE Special Representative on
Media Freedom plans to visit Baku in September and we
strongly endorse this visit. Separately, OSCE member states
plan a unified demarche on senior GOAJ officials on media
freedoms. END SUMMARY.

INTERIOR MINISTER FILES SERIES OF LAWSUITS AGAINST JOURNALISTS
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2. (C) There has been a significant rise in the number of
civil and criminal libel suits against members of the press,
largely driven by Interior Minister Ramil Usubov and his
deputies. Since June, Usubov's lawyers have filed six libel
suits against journalists who have criticized his performance
or assailed his Ministry. The well-respected opposition
journalist and political commentator Zardusht Alizadeh gave
an interview to an opposition newspaper in which he said that
"Most of the MIA officials prosecuting drug crimes are drug
dealers themselves." This statement resulted in Usubov's
suing Alizadeh and the opposition paper that ran the
interview, Azadliq, for USD 50,000. A court quickly ruled
that the Alizaeh was guilty, ordered him to apologize and
write a public refutation of the statement, but lowered the
fine to USD 5000 which must be paid to an orphanage.
(Alizadeh told Poloff he has no intention or capacity to pay
this.)


3. (SBU) Several of the suits stemming from the MIA are
connected with the ongoing murder trial of former senior MIA
official Haji Mammedov who operated a criminal gang from
within the MIA. Usubov filed two lawsuits - one civil, one
criminal - against the small, opposition newspaper Milli Yol
because of its articles about the MIA related to the Mammedov
trial (ref b). Verdicts were swift in these libel cases and
on August 12 a judge fined each of the two Milli Yol
journalists roughly USD 5000 each, an exorbitant amount by
Azerbaijani standards. In addition to those suits filed by
the MIA, we estimate that there are nine libel suits pending
against Azadliq newspaper alone and four suits pending
against another opposition newspaper Yeni Musavat. (On a
positive note, the Minister has agreed to meet with the press
August 19 to discuss the suits in an event moderated by the
Media Council.) Senior public officials have routinely used
both civil and criminal libel suits to silence media critics
in the past. Lawsuits however, had been on a steady decline
since April 2005, driven by President Aliyev announcement of
a moratorium on libel suits after the death of Elmar
Huseynov.

WHAT HAPPENED TO MIRZA SAKIT?
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4. (SBU) Compounding the media's sense of anxiety has been
the June arrest of the well-known satirical journalist Mirza
Zahidov who goes by the pen name Mirza Sakit. Sakit was
arrested on June 23 on charges of heroin and other narcotics
possession. Although we have no way of knowing whether or not
the charges are bonafide, the vast majority of civil society
opinion leaders believe that police planted the drugs on
Sakit in retribution for his many (and often witty) critiques
of government corruption. Journalists and human rights
activists, led by a dynamic young journalist named Emin
Huseynov, formed the Committee to Defend the Rights of Sakit
Zahidov and have actively campaigned on his behalf. The
Committee has written numerous letters to the international
community, attracting the support of Reporters Without
Borders, the Committee to Protect Journalists, and Amnesty
International, all of which have raised Sakit's case in

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recent public statements of concern about media freedom in
Azerbaijan. Sakit's case went to preliminary hearing August
18 and the trial is expected to start shortly.

PHYSICAL ASSAULTS UNRESOLVED
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5. (U) The two physical attacks on journalists that occurred
in the past six months have also raised alarm bells. In
March, a group of unknown assailants attacked and severely
injured opposition journalist Fikret Huseynli. In May, Bizim
Yol editor-in-chief Bahaddin Hajiyev was abducted outside of
his Baku office and physically assaulted. The MIA and the
Prosecutor General's office have made repeated public
statements about the GOAJ commitment to solving the crimes
but most commentators say the investigations have stalled.
Opposition journalists do not believe the MIA will thoroughly
investigate crimes against them in light of the Minister's
public criticism of the press and string of law suits.

HUSEYNOV MURDER STILL LOOMS LARGE
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6. (SBU) Looming above the current anxiety in the media is
the still unresolved murder investigation of prominent
opposition journalist Elmar Huseynov. Huseynov was gunned
down in the stairwell of his apartment in March 2005. The
Government disclaimed any connection to the murder and
President Aliyev publicly called for a speedy investigation
into the crime. Press reports indicate that the two suspects
are Georgian citizens living in Tbilisi; however the press
and human rights activists criticize the Government for not
succeeding in extraditing those individuals. More
importantly, there remains much speculation about who in
Azerbaijan might have ordered the murder. The general public
was stunned when Haji Mammedov told a packed courtroom July
25 that detained former Minister of Economic Development
Farhad Aliyev had ordered the murder. The stalled
investigation into the Huseynov murder continues to weigh
heavily on civil society's assessment of the media climate in
Azerbaijan.

ANS TV LICENSE NOT YET RENEWED
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7. (C) On a separate note, the GOAJ media regulatory
authorities have yet to renew the license of Azerbaijan's
largest and most popular independent broadcast company, ANS
TV and Radio. ANS' broadcast license expired last September.
Media regulators, who are not viewed as independent actors,
have been dragging their feet in renewing the license.
However, most other television stations have had their
licenses renewed in recent months. The delay in renewing ANS
license is likely a means of pressuring this largely
indepedent media outlet. (Presidential Advisor Ali Hasanov
told Charge the license would be renewed in September and
that tax charges against ANS were legitimate.)

INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY RESPONSE
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8. (C) Taken together, this year's physical assaults on
journalists, the unresolved Huseynov murder, the ANS license
renewal problem, and the Interior Minister's rash of libel
suits, indicate that the Azerbaijani media climate has
deteriorated. At an August 18 meeting with OSCE members
states' ranking diplomats, we agreed to address the decline
in media freedom next week in a joint meeting with senior
presidential advisors. OSCE Ambassador Pavesi told the group
that OSCE Special Representative on Media Freedom Miklos
Haraszti plans to travel to Azerbaijan in the second or third
week of September to reinforce the international community's
concerns and to raise the aforementioned cases with President
Aliyev and other members of the GOAJ leadership. We strongly
endorse OSCE plans to bring Haraszti to Azerbaijan and
request that the Department and US Mission OSCE urge the OSCE
to ensure that the visit happens as soon as possible.
HYLAND