Azerbaijani journalist complains of beating

Zaur Ganbarov, a correspondent of the Azerbaijani news website, has stated that he was beaten up by two people, including an employee of the social protection fund.

According to his story, the incident occurred on May 4, when Ganbarov went, on the instruction of his editorial board, to the division of the State Social Protection Fund (SSPF) to investigate a complaint of a local resident.

"The deputy head of the SSPF spoke about my video, which I disseminated in social networks. The video was about distribution of grocery sets among the population. Empty boxes were scattered anywhere, and I had filmed it. The driver of the SSPF division head broke into the room and began threatening me," said Ganbarov.

"Having seen that I was recording what was happening on my telephone, the head of the SSPF district branch knocked me down and kicked me," Ganbarov asserts.

According to his story, he was also threatened with arrest for his critical articles about the district administration.

The editorial board of the "Anews.az" has reminded that according to the media law, "a journalist has the right to conduct investigations and inform the public about them."

"Violence against a journalist runs counter to the reforms carried out by the president of Azerbaijan," the "Anews.az" has noted.

In its turn, the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare treats the journalist as the guilty party, who had allegedly insulted a Ministry official.

Khalid Agaliev, an expert at the Institute of Media Law, has noted that "as a rule, no one, especially officials, are held accountable" in Azerbaijan for the use of violence against journalists.