AZERBAIJAN'S MEDIA CRACKDOWN CONTINUES: TWO MORE

C O N F I D E N T I A L BAKU 000601 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/17/2017 TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM KDEM AJ SUBJECT: AZERBAIJAN'S MEDIA CRACKDOWN CONTINUES: TWO MORE JOURNALISTS LAND IN JAIL Classified By: DEPUTY CHEIF OF MISSION JASON P. HYLAND PER 1.4(B,D) ¶1. (C) On May 16, two journalists from the opposition Mukhalifet newspaper, Editor-In-Chief Rovshan Kebirli and correspondent Yashar Agazadeh, were sentenced to 30 months' imprisonment each on criminal libel charges. The lawsuit was filed by the President's uncle - and Member of Parliament - Jalal Aliyev, after the newspaper published an article in February that criticized him for engaging in corrupt business practices. Aliyev, who is known for his brash behavior and emotional outbursts in Parliament, has filed suits against several other journalists over the past few months; however, this is the first case that has resulted in prison sentences. AMAY Commercial Production Firm, the company that Agazadeh alleged was connected to liyev, has also filed a lawsuit over the articlefor "damaging its business reputation." Kebirli and Agazadeh have become the sixth and seventh journalists currently serving prison sentences in Azerbaijan, making Azerbaijan the top jailer of journalists in the former Soviet Union. ¶2. (C) COMMENT: We are extremely concerned with the increasingly repressive media freedom environment; it has become much too commonplace for journalists who express unpopular opinions to be harassed, beaten, or jailed. It is critical to Azerbaijan's democratic development that the GOAJ create better conditions for media freedom. This is particularly important as we approach the October 2008 Presidential Elections; without an open media environment, candidates will not be able to effectively get their messages out to the public. We will continue to press for media freedom reform with all levels of GOAJ contacts, including in a multilateral meeting with Presidential Chief of Staff Ramiz Mehdiyev. DERSE