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Eynulla Fatullayev
journalist harassed and imprisoned
NEW! Petition (PDF)
The arrest and imprisonment of prisoner of conscience Eynulla Fatullayev, who has a record of outspoken journalism, are the culmination of years of harassment by the Azerbaijani government. Amnesty International believes him to be a prisoner of conscience, detained solely for exercising his right to peaceful free expression. Since Eynulla Fatullayev’s imprisonment, the authorities have sought to shut down his newspapers.
On 10 March 2008, Amnesty International sent an official letter to the Azerbaijani authorities, emphasizing concerns for Eynulla Fatullayev & other journalists, and enclosing a copy of an AI report, Azerbaijan: Mixed messages on freedom of expression.
Eynulla Fatullayev worked for the controversial opposition newspaper Monitor, which closed after the unresolved murder of its editor Elmar Hüseynov in March 2005. He also started the Azeri-language newspaper Gündelik Az-rbaycan (Azerbaijan Daily) and the Russian language newspaper Realny Azerbaydzhan (Real Azerbaijan), which has become known for criticizing government officials. In 2007 he faced death threats after reporting that high-ranking officials ordered a criminal gang to kill Elmar Hüseynov.
On 20 April 2007, he was arrested, charged with libel, tried and sentenced to two and a half years’ imprisonment by the Yasamal District Court, based on comments posted on a website in February that were attributed to him, suggesting that both Azerbaijanis and Armenian forces were responsible for the massacre of hundreds of ethnic Azeri civilians from the village of Xocal in 1992, during the 1991-1994 war in Nagorny Karabakh. The court ruled he had libelled both the population of Xocal and Azerbaijani war veterans. That evening, a colleague who testified in his defense was assaulted by two men he identified as having been in the courtroom that day. Eynulla Fatullayev has since been sentenced (30 October 2007) to an additional eight and a half years’ imprisonment on charges of terrorism, incitement of ethnic hatred, and tax evasion. The lack of plausible evidence in bringing these charges suggests that they are politically motivated, and represent the latest development in an ongoing wave of violations of the right to freedom of expression in Azerbaijan.
These challenges are not new for Eynulla Fatullayev or the newspapers. In July 2004, he was beaten in the street in the capital, Baku, following articles he published that were critical of government officials. He also received anonymous threats in 2005 for a series of articles following his visit to the unrecognized republic of Nagorny Karabakh, in which he advocated dialogue with the Armenians of Karabakh. The Interior Minister brought three libel suits against Realny Azerbaydzhan in August 2006; the newspaper lost and paid compensation. And, in October 2006, Eynulla Fatullayev’s father was kidnapped and released only after an announcement that the newspapers would temporarily stop publishing.
On 16 January 2008 the Baku Court of Appeal upheld Eynulla Fatullayev’s October conviction; as of July 2008, he is detained at Prison No.12, where his parents visited him in June. He reportedly is occupying himself by reading books in English.
Please call for the immediate and unconditional release of prisoner of conscience Eynulla Fatullayev; for protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression as set out in Azerbaijan’s domestic legislation, as well as its international obligations; and for thorough, impartial and conclusive investigation of attacks on journalists, with those responsible brought to justice.
President Ilham Aliyev
Office of the President of the Azerbaijan Republic
19 Istiqlaliyyat Street
Baku AZ1066
AZERBAIJAN
Salutation: Dear President
Ambassador Yashar Aliyev
Embassy of the Azerbaijan Republic
2741 34th Street, NW
Washington, DC 20008
Salutation: Your Excellency
Airmail postage abroad: 94¢
