International organizations condemn violence against journalists in Azerbaijan

The OSCE (Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe) and the international organizations Reporters without Borders (RwB) and the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) have condemned the pressure on the journalist, Fatima Movlanly and her colleagues, who covered a street action in Baku, calling on the authorities to investigate the incident.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on February 15, near the building of the presidential administration of Azerbaijan, police detained three journalists – Fatima Movlanly, Sevindj Sadygova and Teimur Karimov, who came to cover the picket held by relatives of the soldiers who perished in Nagorno-Karabakh. Karimov was later released and said that he received a slight hand injury "from contacting the police." Sadygova and Movlanly said they were beaten up by the police.

Teresa Ribeiro, the OSCE Representative on Media Freedom, has condemned the pressure on reporters in Baku. "Journalists should be able to carry out their duties in safety. I hope the authorities will conduct a prompt investigation," she wrote in her Twitter account on February 17.

The international RwB has also criticized the pressure on Azerbaijani journalists. "The RwB is calling for a transparent and speedy investigation into this shocking police misconduct," the organization said in its Twitter post.

"The authorities should fully investigate the allegations of outrageous police mistreatment of journalists and take credible steps to prevent the recurrence of such incidents," Gulnoza Said, the CPJ Programme Coordinator for Europe and Central Asia, has stated.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on February 18, 2022 at 02:53 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.