OPPOSITION JOURNALIST FEARS FOR LIFE, SEEKS ASYLUM

S E C R E T BAKU 000481

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR EUR, DRL AND PRM; MOSCOW FOR REFCOORD

E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/23/2018
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PREF KDEM PREL AJ
SUBJECT: OPPOSITION JOURNALIST FEARS FOR LIFE, SEEKS ASYLUM

REF: A. BAKU 397 AND PREVIOUS

B. BAKU 354

Classified By: Ambassador Anne E. Derse per 1.4 (b,c,d).


1. (C) Summary: Opposition Azadliq newspaper reporter Agil
Khalil told us May 22 that he faces continuing pressure and
threats following February and March assaults against him and
subsequent smear campaign. A May 7 assault and attempted
kidnapping prompted him to stop working and flee to his
parents' home in Kurdamir. When the surveillance and
harassment continued in Kurdamir, he attempted to flee
Azerbaijan and was prevented by border officials who said he
had "problems" with the Prosecutor General. Khalil believes
he is no longer safe and wants to leave the country
immediately. He filed an asylum request with the Embassy on
May 23 and is consulting with other embassies and Reporters
Sans Frontieres on ways to leave Azerbaijan immediately.


2. (C) Summary Continued: The Prosecutor General announced
on May 21 that it had closed its investigation of Khalil,
concluding that there was no evidence of the March or May
attacks and that Khalil had been stabbed by his homosexual
lover in February; we hope the closure of the investigation
could ease the way for Khalil to leave the country. When the
Ambassador urged Minister of National Security Mahmudov to
ensure Khalil's safety, he responded that Khalil and Azadliq
newspaper are being used by the Ministry of Internal Affairs
(MIA) to go after Ministry of National Security employees who
had broken up an MIA kidnapping and extortion ring.
Regardless of the political reasons behind the continuing
attacks on Khalil, it is clear that no Azerbaijani
authorities are taking action to protect the journalist. The
Ambassador and the Norwegian and OSCE Ambassadors agreed May
23 to seek immediate calls on Foreign Minister Mammadyarov
and Presidential Chief of Staff Ramiz Mehdiyev to seek GOAJ
agreement that Khalil be permitted to leave the country. We
are reviewing Khalil's asylum request and will send our
recommendations septel.

ASSAULTS AND PRESSURE CONTINUE
--------------


3. (C) In a May 22 meeting with emboffs, opposition Azadliq
newspaper journalist Agil Khalil said that he continues to
face pressure and threats following his February and March
assaults and subsequent smear campaign (ref a). Khalil said
that on May 7, he was attacked on a subway train in Baku and
that four individuals subsequently tried to abduct him at a
metro stop. Following these incidents Khalil stopped
working, stopped talking to the press and retreated to his
parents' home in rural Kurdamir. Khalil said that even in
Kurdamir he continues to face pressure. He reported that he
is being followed by unknown individuals in a black sport
utility vehicle. Strangers are harassing his relatives and
asking questions about his whereabouts, and his father is
facing pressure at work and believes he will be fired.
Because of this pressure in Kurdamir, Khalil decided to
return to Baku, to stay with his aunt. When strangers began
asking questions of his aunt's neighbors, he then fled to
another location with four friends.


4. (SBU) Khalil said that he is frustrated by the GOAJ's
failure to take his complaints seriously. On May 21, the
Prosecutor General's Office announced that it had concluded
its investigation into the February, March and May attacks on
Khalil. The Prosecutor General determined that there was no
proof that Khalil had been beaten or attacked in either
February or May; it also determined that Khalil had been
stabbed by his homosexual lover Sergey Strekhalin in March.
The Prosecutor General accused Khalil of "deliberating
falling and crying" in the February attack and said that a
March medical exam did not reveal any injuries. The
Prosecutor General announced that it had opened a criminal
case against Strekhalin on charges of "deliberate causing of
minor serious harm to health" and illegal possession of
narcotics with intent to sell. Khalil said that he does not
believe any government agency is taking his case seriously.
He also said that Lider and Az TV had run false statements
that his family was satisfied with the conduct of the
investigation.

LIBEL CASE PENDING
--------------

5. (SBU) Khalil has filed libel charges against the
Prosecutor General's Office and four television stations
(AzTV, ATV, Space and Lider) in connection with the smear
campaign conducted in the wake of his March 13 stabbing. The
court held a preliminary hearing on May 21 and postponed the
substantive hearing until June 25. The Prosecutor General in
March publicly accused Khalil of lying about the March 13
attack in order to cover up the "fact" that he was stabbed by
his homosexual lover. The Prosecutor General's remarks were
carried by most major media outlets for several days with
lurid detail of the alleged homosexual relationship. OSCE
Special Media Representative Miklos Haraszti branded this
television coverage a massive propaganda campaign "prepared
and managed from a single center," ref b.

NO LONGER SAFE IN AZERBAIJAN
--------------


6. (C) A visibly agitated Khalil told us that he believes he
no longer is safe in Azerbaijan. Following the May 7 attack,
he approached the Norwegian Embassy to seek assistance in
fleeing Azerbaijan. With financial assistance from the
Norwegian Embassy and the Institute for Reporter Freedom and
Safety (IRFS),he attempted to leave Azerbaijan three times
between May 9 and 11. At each border crossing - Baku
International Airport, a land border with Russia and a land
border with Iran - border officials made a copy of Khalil's
passport and told him he could not leave the country due to
"problems" with the Prosecutor General's Office. (Comment:
Given that there is not a criminal case open against Khalil,
it is unclear on what legal grounds - if any - the GOAJ could
prevent him from leaving Azerbaijan. The OSCE is researching
this issue.) Presidential Legal Advisor Shahin Aliyev told
the DCM on May 23 that, based on his understanding of the
case, he did not see any legal reason to bar Khalil from
leaving the country. He promised to review the issue and, if
his analysis was correct, advocate this position within the
GOAJ.


7. (C) Given the continuing pattern of threats and
harassment - and his inability to leave the country - Khalil
repeated that he believes he no longer is safe in Azerbaijan.
He believes that the failure of any GOAJ institution to take
his complaints seriously leaves him vulnerable to further
attacks. He asked emboffs on May 22 whether the U.S. Embassy
could help him leave the country. He noted that he is
talking to other embassies and Reporters Sans Frontieres; he
seeks to leave the country as quickly as possible. We
explained the U.S. Government's asylum policy. On May 23,
Khalil submitted a written request for asylum, which we are
translating and reviewing.

URGING THE MNS TO ENSURE HIS SAFETY
--------------


8. (C) The Ambassador raised Khalil's case with Minister of
National Security Eldar Mahmudov on May 22, urging him to
take measures to ensure Khalil's safety and bring his
attackers to justice. (Khalil has identified Ministry of
National Security (MNS) employees Dagbei Allahverdiyev and
Akif Chovdarov as his assailants in the initial February 22
attack.) Mahmudov responded that Khalil is "just a kid" who
is being used by others to promote their own political
agendas. Mahmudov alleged that Azadliq newspaper editor Azer
Ahmadov had been paid off by the Ministry of Internal Affairs
(MIA) to "go after" MNS employee Akif Chovdarov in
retaliation for his investigation of the Hajimammadov gang.
(Former Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs Hajimammadov and
several other senior MIA employees were arrested in 2005 on
kidnapping and extortion charges; they were tried and
convicted in 2006.) Mahmudov was visibly angry that the
Ministry of Internal Affairs was pursuing a case against MNS
staff.


9. (S/NF) Earlier GRPO reporting had indicated that Mahmudov
was aware that the two MNS employees had been involved in
inappropriate, personal commercial activities in the Olive
Garden that were interrupted by Khalil in February and
reportedly resulted in the first assault. At the time,
Mahmudov had told other MNS officers that he was furious his
employees had engaged in this commercial activity and had
ordered them to cease and desist immediately. In the murky
world of Azerbaijan's power politics, where ministers
routinely use the press to attack their rivals, there could
be some truth to both of Mahmudov's statements on the case.
Some human rights activists believe that the Khalil case
could be part of the long-running feud between the Ministries
of Internal Affairs and National Security, a conclusion
Presidential Advisor Ali Hasanov appears to have drawn as
well (septel).

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


10. (C) While we may never know the true political reasons
behind the continuing attacks and pressure against opposition
journalist Agil Khalil, it is clear that he continues to face
very real threats to his security. No Azerbaijani Government
agency is taking his complaints seriously or taking steps to
protect him. He appears to be facing these threats in
retaliation for his investigative reporting on economic
activities, a conclusion also drawn by OSCE Media
Representative Miklos Haraszti (ref b). We are very
concerned for Khalil's safety, and our concerns are shared by
the Norwegian and OSCE Ambassadors. The three Ambassadors
agreed to seek immediate joint calls on Foreign Minister
Mammadyarov and Presidential Chief of Staff Mehdiyev as soon
as possible to seek GOAJ agreement to allow Khalil to leave

the country. We also are translating and reviewing Khalil's
asylum request and will forward our views to Washington as
soon as possible.
DERSE