FREEDOM OF SPEECH IN AZERBAIJANI WAY. «You can write whatever you want, but after that you can be arrested»
On February 23, 2021, Azerbaijani independent Internet news resource Meydan-TV reported about the arrest of NIDA movement activist Elmir Abbasov.
In the NIDA movement and representatives of the opposition believe that Abbasov is being persecuted because of a post about the corrupt regime of Ilham Aliyev.
A representative from NIDA movement said that Abbasov disappeared a few days ago: «his friend received a call from a man who identified himself as an employee of the Sumgait City Police Department, who informed that Elmir had been arrested.»
- Abbasov was accused of possession of a small dose of drugs without the purpose of sale.
- Abbasov declared that the drugs were planted to him on the way to the department.
The fact that «freedom of speech» is being persecuted by the regime of I. Aliyev is no longer news. On the ranking «Reporters Without Borders» in 2020 Azerbaijan was ranked 168th out of 180.
On July 12, 2019 at the end of four day visit to Azerbaijan, Commissioner for Human Rights Council of Europe Dunja Mijatovic, stated that freedom of expression in Azerbaijan is still under threat. She recalled the decisions of the European Court of Human Rights in which are highlighted the alarming pattern of arbitrary arrests and detentions of government critics, civil society activists and human rights defenders through inappropriate criminal prosecutions.
The opposition of Azerbaijan called on the West to impose sanctions against the country’s officials involved in human rights violations and violence against citizens. But speaking at the first meeting of the country’s new parliament, Aliyev once again explained that he doesn`t care about the EU’s advices and Europe should not teach him.
It is not for nothing that in the report of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) on January 3, 2020 it says that Azerbaijan is one of the most hostile countries for journalists. This list is endless.
To be short, «Freedom of speech «is permissible in Azerbaijan, only in the form of «silent free speech».
