Azerbaijan Continues Persuading Itself

• 03.02.2015, 16:32
•  Region,  World

Media freedom situation and the protection of human rights in Azerbaijan are deteriorating year by year.  Despite this and instead of just keeping silence, Azerbaijani officials do not stop declaring that media in Azerbaijan is completely free, as if trying to persuade themselves.

In a meeting with News Agencies World Council in Baku, the head of the Department of Social and Political Affairs at the Presidential Administration Ali Hasanov declared that Azerbaijan is acting according to the "Concept for State support for the development of media in Azerbaijan." "Azerbaijani media is fully free, and journalists discuss any issue. 40 daily newspapers are published, more than 5 000 media outlets and 20 agencies are operating in the country," –  Hasanov said, APA.az reports.

If a country on such a high level makes such declarations, it means that there should be some basis for it. However, the facts come to prove just the opposite. At the end of 2014 the President of Azerbaijan signed a decree according to which publication of any material on military operations on the borders, incidents and the life of the people in bordering villages is banned without the permission of the Azerbaijani Ministry of Defense. Besides, arrests of the journalists, human rights defenders and lawyers continue in Azerbaijan. There are more than 90 political prisoners in the country. According to the data published by the Freedom of the Press 2014, Azerbaijan is given 84 out of 100 scores (the lower the score, the better the press freedom status). According to Freedom House 2014, Azerbaijan is rated Not Free country. Restrictions on the freedom of speech and human rights violations in Azerbaijan have been and still continue to be criticized by the international community: starting with PACE President and the German Chancellor, ending with the founder of Soros.

Facts speak about more things, than mere words...