18:01, 22 July 2014

Baku: staff of "Azadlyg" newspaper holds picket demanding to repay debt

Today, employees of the oppositional newspaper "Azadlyg" (Freedom) have held a picket outside the offices of the state company for distributing the press named "Gasid" with a demand to repay the debt the company owes to the newspaper.

The above debt began accumulating from mid-2012; and in the last six-seven months it remained stable at the level of 70,000 manats (about 89,000 US dollars), as Rakhim Gadjiev, the deputy editor-in-chief of the "Azadlyg", told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

"We've been repeatedly staging protests in front of the office of the 'Gasid'; but all in vain. Lately, the company was paying us about 2000 manats (about 2550 US dollars) per month, but this is not enough even to cover the printing costs. We can't pay salaries to our staff since April. Therefore, again we had to hold protest in front of the 'Gasid'," said Gadjiev.

He has stressed that the action was held today, on the National Day of the Press, with the aim to show how "difficult the situation is with the newspaper that remains committed to the principles of freedom of the press."

Author: Faik Medzhid

Source: CK correspondent