[1월19일 세계언론 속 아시아] 아제르바이잔, 실종된 ‘언론의 자유’
<알자지라> 아제르바이잔, 실종된 ‘언론의 자유’
[아시아엔=편집국] 아제르바이잔 언론은 수년간 방송장비 압수, 구금, 심문 등을 당하며, 언론의 자유를 보장받기 위해 고군분투해왔다. 그러나 최근 들어 상황이 악화되고 있다.
2014년 12월26일, 오전 10시30분 경찰이 수도 바쿠에 위치한 라디오자유유럽/라디오자유(Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty)에 들이닥쳐 직원들을 가두고, 사무실을 압수수색 했다. 또한 경찰당국은 수색 다음날, 직원 30명을 조사했다. 12월30일 정부는 이 언론사를 간첩, 자금세탁, 횡령 등의 혐의로 고발했다. 아제르바이잔 정부는 2009년에도 라디오자유유럽/라디오자유를 급습해 보도를 중단시킨 바 있다.
압수수색 이전인 2014년 12월5일, 아제르바이잔 경찰당국은 라디오자유유럽/라디오자유(Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty–>영문은 앞에 있으니 불요)의 기자이자 라디오 호스트 카디자 이스마이로바(Khadija Ismayilova)를 자살 선동혐의로 체포했다. 그녀는 대통령 알리예프가와 정부 고위관료들의 부정부패를 고발해 국제적으로 인정받는 언론인이다.
현재 이스마이로바를 포함해 아제르바이잔 내 영향력 있는 언론인들 역시 구금돼 ‘언론의 자유’가 침해 받고 있다. 그러나 이에 대해 일함 알리예프 대통령은 언론인 구금에 정치적 의도가 없고 표현의 자유를 억압하는 행위 또한 없었다고 반박하고 있다. 번역·요약 노지영 인턴기자
What is not being reported in Azerbaijan
While global media appears to be focused on debating the limitations on free speech in France following the attack on the French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo, it is worth remembering that France is not the only country whose media professionals are targeted.
For years, journalists in Azerbaijan have suffered harsh penalties for defending their freedom of speech – from prison sentences to interrogation and the confiscation of broadcasting equipment.
On December 26, at around 10:30am, a group of police officers and investigators stormed the Baku bureau of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, ransacking the company’s safe, seizing company documents, the official seal and equipment, while keeping the staff hostage in a conference room for over five hours. Once the search was over, the office was sealed shut. The staff was let go only to be forcefully summoned a day later at the heavy crimes unit of the state prosecutor’s office for questioning.
In just a few days, over 30 former and current staff members of RFE/RL were questioned, including the bureau’s cleaner. On December 30, the government accused the radio and its staff of espionage, money laundering and appropriation of funds as part of the ongoing criminal investigation against foreign-funded entities in Azerbaijan.
Similar measures were taken against Institute for Reporters’ Freedom and Safety (IRFS), the Media Rights Institute, and International Research and Exchanges Board (IREX). The offices of all three were raided in August and sealed shut with IREX leaving the country shortly after. The director of IRFS, Emin Huseynov, remains in hiding.
Consistent targeting
This is not the first time the RFE/RL station, locally called Azadliq Radio (Liberty Radio) is targeted by the authorities. In 2009, its FM broadcast was shut down. BBC radio service and Voice of America followed suit. For years, the police harassed the radio’s reporters, often confiscating or breaking their equipment or detaining them for endless hours of interrogation.
On December 5, Azadliq Radio investigative journalist and the host of the radio’s daily show, Khadija Ismayilova, was arrested and placed in pre-trial detention for two months. Accused of “incitement to suicide” or “an attempt to suicide” as per Article 125 of the Criminal Code, Ismayilova remains in jail – even though her accuser, Tural Mustafayev, has withdrawn his complaint.
Mustafayev had accused Ismayilova of inciting him to attempt suicide and “insulting his honour and dignity on social networks and among her friends following the break-up of their relations and his intention to marry another woman”. On December 30, the Baku Court of Appeal dismissed Ismayilova’s appeal for house arrest.
Prior to this charge, Ismayilova was already facing an unrelated criminal trialfor defamation linked to her posting a document on Facebook revealing the identity of a man who was an informant for Azerbaijan’s intelligence services.
In October, when travelling for a conference in Prague, Ismayilova was prevented from leaving the country. A little over a week before this trip, Ismayilova was searched and detained for four hours at Baku International Airport. She was returning from Strasbourg where she talked about the deteriorating human rights conditions in Azerbaijan.
Her investigative work uncovered many of the hidden and illegal business dealings of the ruling Aliyev family and other government officials for which she is recognised internationally. Ismayilova is the recipient of Global Shining Award, the Gerd Bucerius Free Press of Eastern Europe Award, the Courage of Journalism Award, and named one of the Brave Thinkers of the world by Atlantic magazine.
With many of the country’s prominent advocates, lawyers, and journalists in jail; independent media platforms under attack; and only a handful of international non-governmental organisations left in the country, there is little hope for the country’s positive transformation anytime soon.
So long as President Ilham Aliyev keeps saying there are no political prisoners and no limitations on freedom of speech in Azerbaijan – conjuring the illusion of a democratic country – little is going to change in this country.
Arzu Geybullayeva is a political analyst for the Caucasus region and a specialist in human rights and press freedom in Azerbaijan.
http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2015/01/what-not-being-reported-azerbaij-20151684331464440.html