Azerbaijan: The Wider Implications of the Crackdown on Press Freedom

The tightening grip on news media outlets has been an increasingly disturbing feature of the former Soviet Union's authoritarian-minded regimes. This trend is noticeable in Azerbaijan, where recent government moves have weakened an already enfeebled independent media sector.

The reality on the ground in Azerbaijan belies official assertions that the government is interested in encouraging a free press. Measures introduced in late 2006 created the appearance of a design to close down the remaining few media outlets that provide independent information. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive].

These measures included a decision by the National Television and Radio Broadcasting Council (NTRBC) requiring Azerbaijani broadcast companies to acquire a license to re-broadcast programs from such news sources as the British Broadcasting Corp. and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. Meanwhile, a campaign to close the Azerbaijani broadcaster ANS, an entity that has been able to take a somewhat independent line, punctuated a year that featured a spike in defamation suits against journalists, as well as other forms of harassment of news professionals.

In energy-rich Azerbaijan, the government's attempt to increase its control of information sources is cause for particular alarm among free-speech advocates. With oil-and-gas exports generating more than half of Azerbaijan's GDP, the country fits the mold of a resource-based economy. At the same time, the Azerbaijani government has faced international criticism over entrenched corruption and a lack of transparency. Under the existing conditions, then, an independent press would seem a critical component in avoiding poor outcomes associated with states rich in resources, but with poorly developed institutions.

Analysis produced by the OECD identifies the lack of press freedom as one of the key factors enabling corruption in resource-based economies. Authorities' recent ratcheting up of pressure on selected media outlets, therefore, raises concerns about Azerbaijan's ability to take the steps needed to avoid the "resource curse."

Freedom House findings identify a host of obstacles for independent media in Azerbaijan's legal, political, and economic spheres. Freedom of the Press, Freedom House's annual survey of global press freedom, places Azerbaijan in the "not free" category. Another annual Freedom House publication, Nations in Transit, reports that "Azerbaijan's media sector encounters numerous obstacles to conducting its work and maintaining independence." Among the issues highlighted in the report was the fact that media "continue to operate under governmental and legal pressure, with most opposition outlets facing substantial financial hardship in the face of unreasonably high libel penalties."

The recent regulatory battle involving ANS is emblematic of the problem. Through a profoundly opaque process, authorities ordered ANS television and radio to cease broadcasting. An eviction sweep on November 24 to take ANS off the air included the opposition Azadliq newspaper and the independent Turan news service, with which ANS shared a location. When faced with international pressure, Azerbaijani authorities eased up on ANS. On December 11, the NTRBC announced a provisional decision that would restore ANS to the airwaves. ANS will be allowed to broadcast on its existing frequencies until the completion of a new tender process for those same frequencies, due for completion in early 2007. Meanwhile, the NTRBC also announced that Radio Liberty and Voice of America will be permitted to broadcast programming on ultra-short wave radio. Radio Liberty and Voice of America had previously broadcast programs via the FM frequencies of ANS and Anten radio stations.

These steps likely offer little comfort to the journalists who operate in Azerbaijan's non-transparent, and often arbitrary regulatory environment. These independent-minded journalists continue to experience daunting working conditions, including threats to their personal safety.

For example, the increase in defamation suits in 2006 led the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Media Freedom Representative, Miklos Haraszti, to urge President Aliyev to decriminalize defamation. "During my first meeting with President Aliyev in April 2005, I thanked him for his call on government officials to refrain from suing journalists for defamation. Unfortunately, since March [of 2006], his moratorium appeal has not been respected by officials. Without a legal moratorium and reform, Azerbaijan might become a journalist-imprisoning country," Haraszti said.

It is widely believed that the March 2005 murder of Elmar Huseinov, editor of Monitor magazine, was politically motivated. To date, the government investigation has been unable to shed much light on the crime. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive].

The threat of violence and criminal prosecution seem to be occupational hazards for independent journalists. In May, Bahaddin Haziyev, editor-in-chief of the opposition newspaper Bizim Yol, was kidnapped, brutally beaten, and left for dead, causing Maurizio Pavesi, head of the OSCE Office in Baku, to comment that "despite declarations by the government about ensuring media freedom in Azerbaijan, journalists continue to face violence and harassment." [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive].

Sakit Zahidov, a reporter and satirist for Azadliq, has been imprisoned since June, when he was arrested for allegedly possessing illegal narcotics; he has been in deteriorating health since his arrest. The most recent attack against an independent journalist occurred December 25, when four unidentified thugs attacked Nicat Huseinov, also an Azadliq journalist.

In a late November interview, President Ilham Aliyev stated that "ensuring freedom of the press and freedom of expression is one of [Azerbaijan's] priorities." However, the obstacles placed in front of the country's independent journalists and news organizations are far from consistent with freedom of the press. This controlling approach to the media is also inconsistent with the values and standards of a number of organizations in which Azerbaijan enjoys membership, including the Council of Europe and the OSCE.

The inability of the news media to establish itself as a viable and independent institution in Azerbaijan is no idle issue. The evident pattern of obstructing the development of independent media -- along with that of other indispensable institutions, such as an independent judiciary -- suggests that authorities in Azerbaijan are taking precisely the opposite steps needed to sidestep the resource curse.

“This year has seen a sharp rise in incidents related to media freedom, from criminal libel cases, to evictions, closures and numerous physical attacks upon journalists themselves,” Robin Seaword, the acting head of the OSCE office in Baku, said in a written statement issued December 27. “The necessary will to provide adequate circumstances for the media to pursue its profession freely is clearly absent and can only cause damage to the country's reputation as it strives to embrace democratic ideals."