Tag: azerbaijan

journalist facing jail time

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Anar Mammadov is editor of criminal.az – website that was blocked by the authorities in Azerbaijan in 2018. Mammadov was sentenced to 5.5 years of imprisonment with a two-year probation period on charges of anti-state appeals, abuse of power and official forgery in March 2019. The official cause of the criminal prosecution was the publication of news about the assassination attempt on the former head of the city of Ganja Elmar Veliyev.

On January 6, Mammadov was pressed with a set of new allegations facing arrest. The accusation comes from a woman, named Malahat Gurbanova. Mammadov wrote about Gurbanova’s legal battle with former Minister of Social Services earlier on. Gurbanova now, alleges Mammadov’s language used to describe Gurbanova in his coverage was slanderous and insulting. Mammadov refutes these claims in his defense adding, if anything, it is he who feels insulted.

Criminal.az is an independent website covering predominantly crime-related stories. The website was blocked by the authorities in 2017, along with a number of other critical and independent news websites. It later began operating under the criminalaz.com domain, which was also blocked shortly after.

*Criminalaz.com, Fia.az, bastainfo.az and topxeber.az were blocked in Azerbaijan after the prosecutor’s office claimed these news websites misinformed their audiences and shared news of provocative nature that were untrue. [Turan News Agency]

**Since May 2017, over 20 websites have been blocked in Azerbaijan, among them: Azadliq Radio (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty Azerbaijan Service) and its international service, Radio Free Europe Radio Liberty, Azadliq Newspaper (independent of the Azadliq radio), Meydan TV, Turan TV and Azerbaijan Saadi (Azerbaijan Hour), OCCRP (Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Unit), abzas.net, obyektiv.tv, and others on the ground these outlets promoted violence, hatred, extremism, violated privacy or constituted slander.

***Websites blocked since then are blocked for slander and spreading misinformation. At some point, an editor of the blocked az24saat.org was asked to remove four articles that mentioned Ali Hasanov, now a former aide to President Ilham Aliyev. Monitortv.info, which was among the blocked websites, also received a note requesting the removal of articles mentioning Ali Hasanov on the grounds these stories contained slander and lies. [Open Democracy]

At the time of the verdict against the journalist Mammadov, several international journalism organizations, and the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media criticized the court’s decision.

The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists called on the Azerbaijani authorities to drop charges against Mammadov and pointing to the unfounded prosecution.

“Informing the general public about important events is what journalists do, and the authorities should support this work, and not punish reporters,” said Gulnoza Said, CPJ Program Coordinator for Europe and Central Asia.

In June 2019, the Baku Court of Appeal upheld the conviction of Anar Mammadov.

Timeline

15 May 2019 – Mammadov summoned to the prosecutor’s office. This time the journalist was questioned over a story about the state oil company – SOCAR.

Meydan TV, an independent online news website covering Azerbaijan was also targeted. Although the website of Meydan.tv was blocked already in 2017, following the publication of stories about SOCAR, the website was heavily DDoSed.

9 July 2018 – Mammadov, questioned by the police. The journalist’s home was searched and his personal devices, including his laptop and phone, were seized by the police.

Mammadov was questioned after publishing reports on an attempt on the life of the mayor of Ganja, Elmar Valiyev, on 3 July.

24 July 2018 – Mammadov was summoned to the prosecutor’s office. The journalist was questioned about the publication of reports on the assassination attempt and was warned not to spread “investigative secrets”.

Azerbaijan ranks poorly on broadband speed in a report released by cable.co.uk

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In a report on Broadband speed released by cable.co.uk Azerbaijan was ranked 141 out of 207 countries. The average speed in Azerbaijan remains around 3-4 Mbps.

Experts say this is a result of multiple factors, such as monopoly over internet providers, high costs and poor quality of internet connectivity across the country.

Worldwide broadband speed league 2019

cable.co.uk

In an interview with Azadliq Radio, Azerbaijan Service for Radio Free Europe, the head of Azerbaijan Internet Forum Osman Gunduz said the issue is a monopoly. “65% of the internet market in Azerbaijan is in the hands of the government providers. The price is regulated not by the market but by the government providers. And when private companies offer lower rates they get pressured in return”, explained Gunduz in an interview.

Media law expert Alasgar Mammadli believes the issue is not just monopoly but the lack of infrastructure and supply. The majority of internet service providers are based in the capital Baku. This has a significant impact on regional supply chains. But even in the capital, there is a lack of good internet speed and connection.

Despite numerous government plans and investments to improve overall ICT infrastructure in Azerbaijan, the country’s internet connection quality is only ahead of its neighboring post-Soviet countries – Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Kyrgyzstan.

Happy Holidays from Azerbaijan Internet Watch

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May 2020 bring us all across the world censorship-free internet and for everyone documenting, reporting, monitoring, advocating, and fighting for it, here is to a year full of progress and solidarity in standing together for the good cause.

And with just a few hours (depending on what part of the world you are in) left to mark the new year, here are a few highlights from Azerbaijan as documented by AIW in the last three months:

* The authorities in Azerbaijan continued to deploy information controls against its civil society; 

* Countless social media activists were targeted for facebook posts;

* More than 50 independent, and opposition news websites remain blocked; 

* Political activists remained under surveillance, as their phone conversations were leaked to pro-government media outlets;

* In one case, the television anchor who leaked the conversation later deleted the whole segment, as the leaked phone call took place between two international diplomats speaking with the political activist;

* One journalist’s conversation on facebook messenger was intercepted and leaked to a news outlet;

* While its size is unknown, the Azerbaijani troll army continued reporting to social media platforms alleged content abusing platforms’ copyright violation rules. in none of the cases that were examined, the reported content was an actual violation;

* An article that was published on OpenDemocracy examined closely how some of this content was taken down; 

* Azerbaijan was ranked “not free” by freedom house in its annual freedom on net report for 2019; 

“The already poor state of internet freedom in Azerbaijan continued to deteriorate during the coverage period. Access is inhibited by infrastructural challenges—illustrated by a major power outage in July 2018—and by state control over the information and communication technology (ICT) industry. The government manipulates the online information landscape, blocking websites that host unfavorable news coverage and using automated “bot” accounts to spread propaganda. Digital rights are not respected, and those who voice dissent online can expect prosecution if they reside in the country or various forms of intimidation if they live abroad.”

“Power in Azerbaijan’s authoritarian government remains heavily concentrated in the hands of Ilham Aliyev, who has served as president since 2003. Corruption is rampant, and after years of persecution, formal political opposition groups are weak. The regime has overseen an extensive crackdown on civil liberties in recent years, leaving little room for independent expression or activism.”

* In October, during one opposition rally, Azerbaijani citizens reported wide internet connectivity issues; most of the businesses in downtown Baku said the Internet was down throughout the day, which affected the local businesses;

* The national parliament picked up on the earlier discussions on introducing new measures to monitor the Internet in the country but now new developments have taken place since;

AIW will continue monitoring and documenting, internet censorship in Azerbaijan in 2020. Stay tuned and thank you for following!

arqument.az remains blocked

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On December 24, 2019, the administrative-economic court in Baku rejected the claim by arqument.az against Transportation, Communication and High Technologies ministry. Arqument.az took the ministry to court following its decision to block arqument.az inside the country.

The website’s editor Shamshad Agayev intends to appeal the decision.

Arqument.az was blocked on August 8, 2018, following a decision issued by Sabail District Court. A few days later, Baku Court of Appeal annulled district court’s decision.

But arqument.az was blocked once again in April 2019 after publishing coverage of protests in Jalilabad district. The website was also subject to cyber attacks after being blocked.

in Azerbaijan 6 journalists remain behind bars

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In its newly released report, Committee to Protect Journalists says the number of imprisoned journalists is a record high.

In total 250 journalists remain behind bars according to a newly updated database. 6 of these journalists are from Azerbaijan.

Other findings from CPJ’s annual census include:

  • Ninety-eight percent of journalists jailed worldwide are locals covering their own country. Three of the four journalists with foreign citizenship are imprisoned in Saudi Arabia, and the fourth in China.
  • Twenty of the jailed journalists, or 8%, are female, compared with 13% last year.
  • Politics was the beat most likely to land journalists in jail, followed by human rights and corruption.
  • More than half of those imprisoned were reporters publishing online.

Azerbaijan ranked “not free” in a new report by Freedom House

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On November 5, Freedom House released the new edition of Freedom on the Net report. The report ranks 65 countries.

According to 2019 Freedom on the Net report, Azerbaijan was downgraded to “not free” scoring 39 out of 100.

The already poor state of internet freedom in Azerbaijan continued to deteriorate during the coverage period. Access is inhibited by infrastructural challenges—illustrated by a major power outage in July 2018—and by state control over the information and communication technology (ICT) industry. The government manipulates the online information landscape, blocking websites that host unfavorable news coverage and using automated “bot” accounts to spread propaganda. Digital rights are not respected, and those who voice dissent online can expect prosecution if they reside in the country or various forms of intimidation if they live abroad.

Read the report.

internet connection down during political rally

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Internet connections were reportedly down Saturday, October 19, 2019.

While no official explanation was provided for the reasons of poor connectivity, civil society activists say authorities cut off the internet connection on purpose to prevent political activists and participants of the opposition rally to share and report updates from the unsanctioned political rally organized in the capital of Baku on October 19.

The rally took place in multiple locations across downtown Baku, as a result, users reported connectivity problems throughout the day, across the center of Baku.

According to reports, in addition to mobile internet connection not working, some landlines and wifi connections across the downtown area were reportedly down.

Elesger Ahmedoglu, a media law expert, wrote on his Facebook, the situation was akin to an emergency. “Mobile operators and internet providers caused damage worth in millions by cutting off mobile internet for hours on end, both to the business owners and public. This is a serious violation of rights and anyone affected, must appeal to courts,” wrote law expert.