AZERBAIJAN: MEDIA FREEDOM DEVELOPMENTS CONTINUE TO

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BAKU 001606

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/01/2016
TAGS: PREL PGOV PHUM KDEM AJ
SUBJECT: AZERBAIJAN: MEDIA FREEDOM DEVELOPMENTS CONTINUE TO
RAISE CONCERN

REF: A. BAKU 1231

B. BAKU 1523

Classified By: Ambassador Anne E. Derse for Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).


1. (C) Summary: On October 21 President Aliyev pardoned 106
prisoners, among them two journalists convicted of libel in

2006. The pardon was met with skepticism in the human rights
community, in part because it overlooked popular political
satirist, Mirza Sakit who was sentenced to prison on drug
charges in September 2006. The OSCE Baku publicly welcomed
the pardon but privately said that Aliyev could have done
more to ameliorate the criminal and civil sentences of other
journalists convicted of libel. OSCE also said that it will
aggressively pursue legislation decriminalizing libel over
the next year. Separately, the GOAJ State Property Committee
filed suit to evict the opposition newspaper Azadliq from its
downtown Baku offices, a building Azadliq shares with other
newspapers and the Popular Front Party. In response, six
opposition journalists and politicians began a hunger strike
October 30 and on November 2, fifty opposition activists held
an unauthorized rally in front of the State Committee's
offices. Separately, President Aliyev downplayed
international criticism of Azerbaijan's media freedom
performance in a meeting with foreign reporters. All of these
developments point to a continued deterioration in
Azerbaijan's media environment. We are analyzing the factors
underlying these developments and will report septel. We
continue to raise our concerns at all levels of government.
End Summary.

ALIYEV PARDONS PRISONERS, TWO JOURNALISTS
--------------


2. (C) On October 21, President Aliyev pardoned 106 prisoners
on the occasion of Azerbaijani Sovereignty Day. The decree
did not include any of the three persons designated political
prisoners in the Council of Europe's 2002 Experts Report.
However, the decree pardoned Shahin Agabeyli, editor-in-chief
of Milli Yol newspaper and Samir Adigzalov, editor of Boyuk
Millat newspaper, two journalists imprisoned in the 2006 for
libeling GOAJ officials (ref a). The decree did not pardon,
as many human rights activists had hoped, political satirist
Mirza Sakit. Sakit was sentenced in September 2006 on charges
of narcotics possession, charges most observers believed to
be spurious. The decree also did not address the cases of
four other journalists who received suspended criminal
sentences and/or hefty civil penalties for libeling GOAJ
officials.

OSCE REACTION LUKEWARM, HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVISTS CRITICAL
-------------- --------------


3. (C) The pardon decree was met with skepticism by human
rights activists and international observers. OSCE Chief of
Mission Maurizio Pavesi publicly welcomed the journalists'
pardons as a "demonstration of political goodwill" in the
aftermath of the early October visit of OSCE Media Freedom
Representative Miklos Haraszti (ref. b). However, OSCE
officials privately told poloff that the pardon decree was
less than they had hoped for, and that the OSCE remained
concerned about the continued deterioration of the media
environment in Azerbaijan. One OSCE official commented that
it was unnecessary to applaud the GOAJ for pardoning people
that should never have been in jail to begin with. Prominent
human rights activist Novella Jafaroglu said that the decree
was a "decoration for the public." Another well respected
activist, Leyla Yunus, commented that the list of those
pardoned completely ignored the counsel of many NGOs and
activists, herself included, who submitted recommended pardon
lists to the Presidential Apparat in early October.

OSCE TO PURSUE LIBEL LAW DECRIMINALIZATION
--------------


4. (C) Separately, on October 27, OSCE democratization
officer Ingrid Gossinger (protect) briefed OSCE member states
on OSCE Baku's plan to pursue legislative decriminalization
of libel over the next 12 months. Gossinger said that the
OSCE expects the GOAJ to rebuff these efforts "as they done
in the past" and was therefore not surprised by the public
comments of presidential aide Ali Hasanov downplaying the
importance of libel decriminalization. (President Aliyev
rebuffed decriminalization of libel in an October 9 meeting
with OSCE Special Representative for Media Freedom Haraszti -
ref. b). OSCE will press the issue later this month with the
Presidential Apparat and will begin a year long effort in
early 2007. OSCE officials tell us that OSCE Baku would
welcome member states' support for decriminalization of libel

BAKU 00001606 002 OF 002


both in Baku and in Vienna. (Post strongly supports the OSCE
Baku's initiative, as the decriminalization of libel is
consistent with GOAJ commitments to the OSCE and Council of
Europe. We have raised the issue with the MFA and
Presidential Apparat and will continue to do so.)

AZADLIQ NEWSPAPER THREATENED WITH EVICTION
--------------


5. (U) Separately, the GOAJ State Committee for Property
filed suit against the opposition newspaper Azadliq in the
Baku Economic Court in an attempt to evict the newspaper from
its current location in central Baku. Azadliq newspaper
shares the premises, a large building near the Embassy's
annex, with the opposition Popular Front Party (PFP),the
opposition newspaper Bizim Yol, and Turan News Agency, all of
which have joined the suit as co-litigants.


6. (C) Azadliq newspaper argues that the Baku Mayor gave the
property to the buildings' tenants in 1992 with an unlimited
title for which they have not needed to pay rent. The State
Committee alleges that no lease agreement was formally signed
and that therefore the paper owes the GOAJ rent arrears since

1997. Azadliq has told the press it would be willing to pay
rent in the future once an agreement is signed with the State
Committee, and claims that the GOAJ decision to go to court
is politically motivated. PFP Chairman Ali Kerimli told ADCM
October 31 that he believes the GOAJ intends to shut down
Azadliq newspaper as the GOAJ knows Azadliq does not have the
resources to pay the sums due. Human rights activists believe
the eviction proceeding to be further evidence of a GOAJ
crackdown on media freedom and its attempt to undermine the
political opposition. In response to the eviction suit, six
opposition party members began a hunger strike in Azadliq's
office on October 30. On November 2, approximately 50
opposition party activists held an unsanctioned demonstration
in front of the State Property Committee's office. Police
detained and released the demonstrators after several hours.


ALIYEV DISMISSES LOW MEDIA FREEDOM RANKING
--------------


7. (C) The Paris-based international NGO, Reporters Without
Borders (RWB) recently ranked Azerbaijan 135 of out 168 for
its performance in protecting and advancing media freedom.
President Aliyev reportedly dismissed the low ranking in a
meeting with a delegation of Moscow-based, mostly Western
journalists visiting Baku on October 27. According to the
published report of a Christian Science Monitor journalist
who attended the meeting, Aliyev said that "I treat these
kind of ratings with a high degree of skepticism." However, a
Bloomberg news reporter on the delegation privately told PAO
that Aliyev acknowledged problems in Azerbaijan's democratic
development but criticized what he said was the biased
assessments of organization like RWB.

COMMENT
--------------


8. (C) The recent deterioration in media freedom began six
months ago with the numerous libel suits filed by the
Interior Minister against journalists, in what observers
describe as the effective end of the "Huseynov" libel
moratorium. During this period we have also seen increased
restriction on the freedom of assembly. We believe there are
broader factors underlying these developments which we are
analyzing in order to craft an effective USG response. A/S
Lowenkron's upcoming visit will be a key opportunity to
deliver our message on this and broader USG interests. We
will shortly provide an analysis of these underlying factors
septel. We will continue to register our concern at all
levels of government and we are also exploring options for a
joint demarche with other concerned diplomatic missions.
DERSE