Rights defenders demand from Azerbaijani authorities to ensure freedom of expression

Azeri authorities must ensure the inquiry into attacks on journalists and the freedom of expression in the country, the Norwegian "Human Rights House" Fund has stated.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on May 9, the police launched an investigation of the attack on the journalist, Aiten Mamedova. The man who followed her into the elevator put a knife to her throat and demanded from her not to cover the trial, after which he fled. Mamedova linked the attack to her coverage of the high-profile case of a child murder.

The "Human Rights House" Fund has noted that Aiten is one of the few journalists covering the above resonant murder case in which the defendant asserts that he was tortured by the authorities. "The Azerbaijani civil society has treated the attack on Mamedova as an encroachment on the freedom of speech," the Fund said in its statement.

The statement also mentions the attacks on other journalists and activists. In February, the journalists, Fatima Movlamly and Sevindj Sadygova were attacked while preparing reports in Baku.

Bakhtiyar Gadjiev, a well-known activist and a former political prisoner, has accused law enforcers of his kidnapping in April 2022.

Azerbaijan remains a party to the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the Fund has recalled.

Mr Gadjiev has added that so far there has been no progress in the inquiry into his kidnapping, but the recent cases of violence against activists and journalists have consolidated the Azeri civil society.