H.E. Ilham Aliyev
President
Office of the President
19 Istiglal kuc.
Baku 370066
Azerbaijani Republic
Fax: (011.994.12) 98.33.28
Your Excellency:
Azerbaijan@quot;s persistent legal and financial harassment of the independent newspaper, Tezadlar ,
is most distressing to members of this non-partisan organization, which has defended press freedom around the world for 65 years.
The International Press Institute (IPI) reports that in recent years an estimated 400 civil lawsuits have been brought against the newspaper ? with most of them filed by government officials. Because of the many libel awards, the newspaper@quot;s bank account was frozen during 2003.
Despite your country@quot;s public commitment to democracy, and the Azerbaijan Supreme Court@quot;s ruling that punishment of journalists for criticizing policies of the government is illegal, criminal charges have been lodged against Tezadlar on a number of occasions. Also, an opportunity to appeal a court@quot;s restrictions scheduled to be imposed on the paper has been denied.
IPI has reported that harsh working conditions confronting journalists, including violence, arbitrary arrests and other harassment, have been all too common in Azerbaijan. Especially around election time, it is reported, the full force of your government has been applied against critical voices in the media.
It is widely understood that freedom of the press is an essential foundation of a democracy. We urge you to end the apparent campaign to silence critics of the government.
We also urge you, as a member of the United Nations, to establish and maintain freedom of expression and the free press, as guaranteed in Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Journalists, including those on Tezadlar , should be able to do their work without intimidation.
A stop to the harassment of Tezadlar can only benefit both your people and your government.
Respectfully yours,
Larry Martz
Norman A. Schorr
Co-chairmen, Freedom of the Press Committee