By Jasur Mammadov Sumerinli, the director of the “Doctrine” Journalists’ Military Research Center, now he is studying MA at Georgian Institute of Public Affairs (GIPA), Faculty Journalism and Media Management.
June 2013
June 15. “We are not exercising control over the Internet. Approving annexes and amendments to the Criminal Code we are regulating the norms carried out in the sphere of ICT. The international organizations’ critical remarks are biased,” said chief of the Presidential Administration Political Analysis and Information Provision Department Elnur Aslanov, APA reports.
June 6. The Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, Nils Muižnieks, and the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Dunja Mijatovic, expressed serious concern today at the promulgation by the President of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, of amendments extending the application of criminal defamation provisions to online expression on 4 June 2013. Muižnieks and Mijatović, both of whom had explicitly called on the President not to sign these amendments into law following their adoption by Parliament on 14 May 2013, regretted this step, which clearly contradicts Azerbaijan’s commitments and obligations relating to the decriminalization of defamation and freedom of expression in general. Wary of the chilling effect that these provisions are bound to have on those wishing to use the Internet to raise legitimate critical voices, Nils Muižnieks and Dunja Mijatović also expressed concern that the new changes will further erode the already limited space for free expression in the country. Noting that the Azerbaijani authorities are currently engaged with the Council of Europe Venice Commission on the reform of Azerbaijan’s defamation legislation, the officials strongly urged the Azerbaijani authorities to deploy genuine efforts to ensure that this process results in legislation that complies fully with the European Convention on Human Rights and OSCE commitments on freedom of the media, both online and offline. Mijatović is in Cologne attending the 25th Medienforum.
June 6. From today, the questions asked by citizens will be answered on Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev’s Facebook page with the participation of the persons responsible for various spheres. A related announcement has been posted on official Facebook page of Azerbaijan’s President. According to the announcement, taking into account that 2013 is the year of Information Technologies in Azerbaijan, the first topic is dedicated to this sphere. “You can ask questions through comments to this status. The questions will be received on June 6-10, 2013 and will be answered gradually. In order not to repeat questions, look through the questions asked earlier. You can also offer topics or spheres that interest you so that we can take into account your wishes while choosing topics.”
June 6. Štefan Füle, Commissioner responsible for the enlargement of the EU and for the policy towards neighbours: “Azerbaijan: freedom of expression must be enhanced not limited,concerned by the final adoption of law on internet defamation”. Via Twitter.
June 5. The Institute for Reporters’ Freedom and Safety (IRFS) resolutely President Aliyev’s signing the draconian amendments to the Criminal Code that make defamation over the Internet a criminal offense punishable by imprisonment. The amendments represent a major blow to freedom of expression ahead of a presidential election in the already tightly controlled environment.
‘These amendments represent serious steps away from international norms. They would criminalize many exercises of freedom of expression online and empower the security services to take action’, comments IRFS CEO and Chairman Emin Huseynov. IRFS also continues to call for an end to the campaign of harassment against critics of the government. ‘The draconian Internet defamation law, unfortunately, do not represent a step in the right direction’, Huseynov noted.
IRFS emphasizes that the approval of these amendments is a disrespect not only to the government’s commitments to uphold the freedom of expression and internet, but also the president’s own order to improve the national legislation (through, inter alia, the ‘National Action Program for increasing the efficiency of the protection of human rights and freedoms in the Republic of Azerbaijan’) to an end to criminal defamation laws which encourage self-censorship thereby restricting freedom of expression. While hosting the UN Internet Governance Forum in November of 2012, Azerbaijani authorities tried to convince the world community that Azerbaijan is country with a free internet, and the government intends to carry out more important reforms in this field. Last of such persuasions was made by President Ilham Aliyev on May 29 at Azerbaijan-US: Vision for Future Forum, where he tried to convince hundreds of US politicians attending the event that ‘Azerbaijan is an area of fully free media and internet’. However approval of these amendments by the president shows that his pledges regarding human rights and the real actions taken in this area are in contradiction to one-another. IRFS reminds that following adoption of these amendments by the parliament on May 14, a number of local and international organizations, including OSCE Special Representative on Freedom of the Media Dunja Mijatovic and Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights Nils Muiznieks, sent an appeal to the president calling on him to refrain from signing the amendments and put a veto on this bill. But despite of all this, the president signed these amendments. Apart from being in contradiction to both Azerbaijani Constitution and the country’s international obligations, the criminal prosecution of journalists and bloggers for their free opinions exert ‘chilling effect’ on the media.
The UN Human Rights Committee, the independent body of experts that provides the definitive interpretation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), has said that ‘defamation laws must be crafted with care to ensure that they… do not serve, in practice, to stifle freedom of expression. … States parties should consider the decriminalization of defamation and, in any case, the application of the criminal law should only be countenanced in the most serious of cases and imprisonment is never an appropriate penalty’. Despite of being a state party to the ICCPR, Azerbaijan ignores its provisions, which shows that international legal instruments the country has ratified have little importance for her. IRFS calls on the Azerbaijani authorities to live up to the standards and commitments reflected in the European Convention of Human Rights, the Helsinki Accords, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Toward that end, IRFS urges the government of Azerbaijan to repeal the laws that would constrict fundamental freedoms and human rights and fulfill the country’s human rights obligations undertaken before international organizations. IRFS further calls on the international community, in particular the Council of Europe and the OSCE, to take a stronger stance and exert greater pressure on the Azerbaijani authorities to fulfill their international human rights obligations.
June 5. The president of Azerbaijan Internet Forum Osman Gunduz said to AzVision.az that it could be connected with content of these pages. He thought that there are special rules on Facebook and if you creat some pages on FB, you have to follo these rules.
June 5. Two famous Facebook pages of Azerbaijan opposition – Istefa (resign) and Xilas (rescue) were disappeared. And three pro-govermental pages (whic are supported Ilham Aliyev and his policy) “Prezidentə dəstək – 2013 (Support to President – 2013), “Azərbaycana baxış” (View to Azerbaijan), “Azərbaycan 2013: Qələbə!” (Azerbaijan 2013: Victory) were disappeared too. Oppositon representatives said that this is the result of action of government.
June 5. The official from Ministry of Internal Affairs Orkhan Mansurzade told to APA that the person who created the false profil of name of minister Ramil Usubov was determined. But he said that unknown person created the news profil for Ramil Usubov.
June 4. President Aliyev signed a bill passed by the parliament that would criminalize defamatory and offensive views expressed on the internet. Now it is possible to launch a criminal case against online activists posting critical views on the internet referring to the Articles 147 and 148 of the Criminal Code, and jail them for up to three years.
May 2013
May 24. The official from Ministry of Internal Affairs Orkhan Mansurzade told to “Bizim Yol” newspaper that, there are not any officla page of Ministry of Internal Affairs, Internal Troops and other structures on Facebook. He said that the appropriate measures will be taken on the fake profiles created.
May 23. According to the local media the president of SOCAR Rovnag Abdullayev wil answer the questions of citizens via Facebook page of SOCAR soon. This is the news project of SOCAR and it will realize as video format. Abdullayev will answer the questions which collect more “like”.
May 22-23. Azerbaijan`s Minister of Labor and Social Protection of Population Fuzuli Alakbarov answered the questions of citizens via Facebook page of Ministry. This is the first time when official figure answered the question via social networks.
May 22-23. In Stockholm was held Global security and human rights in the internet age conference. The chairman of the Human Rights Club (HRC), Rasul Jafarov told about the problems with social networks in Azerbaijan.
May 14. The Azerbaijani Parliament adopted amendments to article 147 (slander) and 148 (insult) of the Criminal Code establishing a legal punishment of up to six months of imprisonment for slander and insult by the users of the social networks. The new amendments are primarily targeted at the Facebook activists who have recently been enjoying freedoms in criticizing the Azerbiajani government on the Internet without much pressures from the Azerbaijani government. The initiative to have these amendments adopted by the parliament belongs to the Attorney General of Azerbaijan Zakir Garalov.
May 14. The Institute for Reporters’ Freedom and Safety (IRFS) issued a statement attacking the newly adopted bill as a serious step in the direction of stregnthening the authoritarianism in Azerbaijan. Below is the full text of the statement: Institute for Reporters’ Freedom and Safety (IRFS) resolutely condemns the adoption of the draconian amendments to the Criminal Code that allow for harsh penalties for defamation and insult posted on the internet. IRFS believes that the hasty adoption of this bill serves the purpose of having a chilling effect on critical bloggers and online activists, thus making citizens less active in the year of election. “Amendments to the Criminal Code, which were passed on today by the Parliament, was a blatant political move and a shabby attempt to hijack online freedoms amid mounting pre-election crackdown,” comments IRFS CEO and Chair Emin Huseynov. IRFS considers that using the criminal justice system to punish journalists and bloggers for freely expressed views is contrary to Azerbaijan’s constitution and international obligations, and has a chilling effect on journalists throughout the country. IRFS recalls that the government has committed (through, inter alia, the ‘National Action Program for increasing the efficiency of human rights and freedoms in the Republic of Azerbaijan’) to an end to criminal defamation laws which encourage self-censorship, thereby restricting freedom of expression. IRFS therefore urges the Azerbaijani president to refrain from approving these amendments as they are incompatible with the National Action Program for increasing the efficiency of human rights and freedoms. The UN Human Rights Committee, the independent body of experts that provides the definitive interpretation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), has said that ‘defamation laws must be crafted with care to ensure that they… do not serve, in practice, to stifle freedom of expression. … States parties should consider the decriminalization of defamation and, in any case, the application of the criminal law should only be countenanced in the most serious of cases and imprisonment is never an appropriate penalty’. Azerbaijan is a state party to the ICCPR and is bound by its provisions. The right to freedom of expression and information is guaranteed and protected by the provisions of international instruments, and treaties signed and ratified by the Government of Azerbaijan, notably the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), Article 19, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), Article 19, and Council of Europe Convention on Human Rights, Article 10. IRFS calls on the Azerbaijani authorities to live up to the standards and commitments reflected in the European Convention of Human Rights, the Helsinki Accords, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Toward that end, IRFS urges the government of Azerbaijan to repeal the laws that would constrict fundamental freedoms and human rights.IRFS further calls on the international community, in particular the Council of Europe and the OSCE, to take a stronger stance and exert greater pressure on the Azerbaijani authorities to fulfill their international human rights obligations (Azeri Report).
May 4. The head of Internet Forum Osman Gunduz, who studies social media in Azerbaijan, said: “The increasing number of the users in social networks affects their activity. Facebook has acquired an important role in shaping public opinion in Azerbaijan. Apparently, the authorities are concerned with the fact that Facebook has become a tool of expressing the civic activity”.
May 4. Bakcell and Azercell, two leading mobile operators in Azerbaijan, suspended providing free access to social networks “0.Facebook.com” and “Free Mobile Twitter” to their subscribers. Despite the fact that the message of the mobile operators states that temporary suspension of services is due to technical problems, some experts believe that the decision of the two leading mobile operators to stop providing free access to social networks at the same time, may have political background, the media says.
May 2. According to Emin Huseynov, the chairman of the Institute of Reporters’ Freedom and Security (IRFS), this initiative demonstrates the government’s consistent policy to destroy freedom of speech in Azerbaijan. Huseynov said that Azerbaijan special government structures buy different special technologies to control the internet in Azerbaijan. These opinions were shared at the conference “Safe to Speak: Securing Freedom of Expression in All Media” which was held on May 2 in Baku. The conference focused on the serious threats that the new initiatives mean for control of the media and the Internet. http://www.irfs.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/2013-Q1-FoE-Report.pdf
May 2. The director of Media Rights Institute in Azerbaijan, Rashid Hajili, said there is a lot of tension related to social networks in Azerbaijan. “Social networks are followed by government structures,” he said. “The people are registrated. We can see it clearly related with young political activists who are active on social networks. When they are invited to police stations, the police officials ask them about their social networks activities. It is clear that the government is afraid of social networks, where people are free to express themselves. “We should consider that the number of youths on social networks is more than the youth who read the newspapers and watch TV. The social networks are effective platform for youth for their improvment and enlightment,” he said. What about the predicted limitation of social networks activities in Azerbaijan? Rashid Hajili said it is technically possible the government could block networks such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. “Because there is strong government control or a government-related monopoly over the internet infrastructure in Azerbaijan, it is possible to filter the internet in the country,” he said. “If they block the social networks, it will be difficult to enter to these sites, but there will remain some opportunity to use these social networks. I don’t believe the government can block the social networks for a long time. It could be possible for a short time, but it will be expensive for the government.”
May 2. Rasul Jafarov, chairman of the Human Rights Club, thinks the government “has the desire to interfere in social networks, but they have not the opportunity. To close or limit social networks is a very sensitive and difficult issue.” Jafarov said that the ammendments to the Criminal Code are to be considered as a psychological attack on the people who use the social networks.
May 2. Blogger Ali Novruzov said that he is worried about the government’s internet plans. “The government tries to make definite limitations to the freedom of expression on the Internet. They want to make it a regulation,” he said. “I think that this is very sensitive issue. That’s why the government has to take into consideration the different interests of people, online media, civil society, business and consumers. Everybody has to participate in making any rules related to the Internet. But it seems that the Azerbaijan government tries to do this process one-sided. For example, they created the Internet Commission under the Press Council, and they continue to make amendments to the Criminal Code. So the government tries to take control over the Internet. But this process is doubtful. It is very difficult to take control over the one million people who are Facebook users in Azerbaijan. “In reality, these amendments are dangerous for people because they could be used selectively. For example, if someone insults another citizen on Facebook, and that person complains to the court, officials may be not interested in punishing that person. But if someone writes some criticism about officials, that person could be punished. My main worry is related with this issue.” Novruzov said the role of social networks role in Azerbaijan is very important. “It has been a long time since Azerbaijan TV program content included the reaction to the issuess which are discussed on social networks,” he said. “This is an election year in Azerbaijan, and evidently the government understands the role of social networks in this important year, and it is possible that the government’s latest moves about the internet are related to elections.”
May 2. The director of the East-West Research Center, Arastun Orujlu, said the issue is not about how the government will use technology to limit entrance to social networks. “The issue is how Government wants to create fear in society, and what will be the psychological effect of these plans. But they have the technical means to follow people who are active on social networks. Some developed partner countries provide the special technologies which will be used to control the social networks,” Orujlu said. According to Orujlu, the government doesn’t think about total control over social networks users. “I think they think about the scenario to punish about 3-5 active people, and then make a special PR campaign about it and create general fear in society,” Orujlu said.
April 2013
April 30. It seems Azerbaijan authorities wish to strengthen control over internet activity. The parliament is going to confirm special amendments to the Criminal Code. These amendments were discussed at the April 30 meeting of the Parliament committee on legal policy and state-building. Committee chairman Ali Huseynli said that according to the proposed amendments, punishments are imposed for personal insult and slander in media outlets or public information internet resources.Under the Criminal Code’s articles 147 (slander) and 148 (insult), the punishments will be imposed in accordance with information released on internet resources. Fines from AZN 100-500 and public work up to 240 hours, corrective work up to a year, or six months imprisonment are designated for slander. Severe cases could bring sentences of public work up to two years, or three years imprisonment. Fines from AZN 300-1000, public work up to 240 hours, corrective work up to a year or six months imprisonment are designated for insult. The draft law was recommended to the plenary meeting of the Azerbaijani parliament.
April 28. According to independent estimates, 65-70 percent of Facebook users live in Baku. About 15 percent users live in the cities of Sumqayit, Ganca, Lenkoran and Shirvan. About 15-20 percent users live elsewhere in the country.
April 25. According to http://www.socialbakers.com, which researches and analyzes social network statistics in different countries, on April 1 there were 1,072,400 Facebook users in Azerbaijan. “Our social networking statistics show that Facebook penetration in Azerbaijan is 12.92% compared to the country’s population and 25.37% in relation to number of Internet users. The total number of Monthly Active Facebook Users (MAU) in Azerbaijan is approximately 1,072,400 and grew by more than 171,800 in the last six months. Facebook demographics are other social media statistics we monitor. The largest age group usage is currently 18-24 with 522 860 users, followed by the age 25-34 users. The are 65% male users and 35% female users in Azerbaijan, compared to 59% and 41% in Palestinian Territory and 45% and 55% in Georgia,” socialbakers.com stated.
April. An MP from the ruling party of Yeni Azerbaijan, Aydin Mirzazade, thinks the main goals of NDI are to change the government in Azerbaijan and create instability in the country. The chief of the public policy department for the Presidential Administration, Ali Hasanov, said the Azerbaijani government is studying information in the media regarding the activities of NDI and promised to give an assessment after completion of the study.
April. Azerbaijan media wrote that using Facebook in different internet clubs in Azerbaijan was prohibited. There were reports that the owners of internet cafes in the Garachuxur and Guneshli districts of Baku prohibited Facebook use. According to other reports, police ordered the owners of internet clubs in Ismayilli region to keep a list of users.
April. Young activist and blogger Habib Muntazir who lives in Germany and is very active on social networks, said Azerbaijani youth could declare their different thoughts and opinions via Facebook. “The government in Azerbaijan prohibited all free platforms for discussions. Therefore, using social networks is very important and useful,” Muntazir said. He doesn’t think the Azerbaijan government could close Facebook now. “But they are able to amaze us every time. They closed the Free Thought University and it is an example of how the Azerbaijan government can amaze us. But if they closed Facebook in Azerbaijan, it would be one of the main factors against the government,” Muntazir said. Muntazir said he highly admires the protest action which was planned via Facebook: “I think that it is the appearance of a youth movement in Azerbaijan,” he said. “At the same time it is evidence of a social media revolution in Azerbaijan. The people have interest in Facebook events. At the least. it is a demonstration of unity by people who support this action even online. If we consider that Azerbaijan society is still gripped with fear, it is normal that there are some differences in crowd estimates at events, and the number of participants is fewer than the number of people who declare on Facebook that they will join an action.” Muntazir said that he never organized a protest action in Azerbaijan. “I think I don’t have the right to organize an action from a foreign country, if I couldn’t participate in this action. I shared the information about these events. In general, I think that these rallies will continue.”
April. One of the organizers of protest actions in Azerbaijan via Facebook, Free Youth Organization representative Ilkin Rustamzade said that today social networks like Facebook are free platforms for youths or any people to declare their opinion. He said government took control of all the media and limited the opportunity of free expression in the country. “TVs belong to Government, print media belongs to Government, and they prohibited free gathering,: he said. “In this case, social networks fill the emptiness. For me, Facebook is the airhole in Azerbaijan.” Rustamzade doesn’t believe the Azerbaijan government can totally stop the activity of Facebook. “If they do that, it will mean that they want to build North Korea in Azerbaijan,” he said. Rustamzade talked about the last two protest actions: “These two actions were great events which informed and involved more people and created huge resonance. These events demonstrated the power of social networks. For example, the invitation to participate in the January 12 action was sent to about 120,000 people. For the January 26 event the figure is 70,000, and for March 10 it was 180,000. The number of people who participated in the actions is 20 percent of the people who “confirm” his or her participation via Favebook. For January 12 about 17,000 people confirmed their participation. For January 26, 5,000; for March 10, 22,000.” Rustamzade think that contination of the protest actions will depend on the situation. “I am sure that we – youth people – will never change our way,” he said.
April 18. Thomas Melia, US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, was in Azerbaijan April 17-18 and said at a press conference that the NDI administration visited Azerbaijan in mid-April and held talks on the institute’s activity in the country. “I hope misunderstandings around this issue will be eliminated,” said Melia, noting that NDI is a famous organization implementing programs on democracy and elections and working with civil society in a number of countries. “This organization should be regarded as a resource. The civil society should enjoy this resource,” he said.
April 17. The deputy executive secretary of the ruling New Azerbaijan Party (NAP), MP Mubariz Gurbanly, told the radio station “Voice of America” that revolution via Facebook is not possible in Azerbaijan. He said the recent arrests of youth activists were made because proponents of “radical opposition” conducted several illegal actions on Fountain Square, although the site is not intended for this purpose. Referring to discussions in social networks, he said the government is not afraid of discussions on Facebook, and that the Internet in Azerbaijan is completely free. “I reiterate the position of the (ruling party) NAP. We stand for freedom in social networks,” he said. At the same time, Gurbanly said that no one can make a revolution in Azerbaijan through Facebook. “To carry out a revolution in the country, there should be reasons for unrest and anti-government protests. If there is no reason for this, it is impossible to make revolution through Facebook in the country. Did participants in the meeting at the Cairo’s Tahrir Square gather through Facebook? Most of them did not even know about Facebook and had no access to social networks,” he said. With regard to NDİ, Gurbanly said: “NDI has been working in Azerbaijan and continues its activity. For us, NDI is not a source of danger. There has just been made a public journalism investigation of the removal of cash by an employee of NDİ from a bank account and the use of these funds. The office of the prosecutor quite rightly asked the U.S. Embassy to inquire. I read the response of the U.S. Embassy, and I think that’s not enough. They have to respond to the arguments identified by the investigative journalism. In this matter, there can be no pressure on NDI.”
April 10. One of the organizers of protest actions in Azerbaijan via Facebook, Free Youth Organization representative Ilkin Rustamzade, was called to the procurator’s office. He was asked about a protest action which was held on March 10 against soldier deaths in Azerbaijan army.
April 10. Representatives from procurator’s office closed the doors of the Free Thought University, which is popular among youths. The officials said they are inspecting the financing of this structure.
March 2013
March 29. General prosecutor Zakir Garalov sent a letter to US Ambassador Richard Morningstar which stated that press articles about the NDI office caused a great public disturbance. According to the media, the inspections held by the prosecution bodies revealed that the NGI office issued grants via its offices and regional information centers in Baku, Ganja, Tovuz, Shirvan, Yevlakh, Shaki, Khachmaz and Jalilabad which were not registered and certified in the due manner and violated a number of laws.
March-April. Some MPs from the ruling party and others from pro-governmental parties declared that the activity of Facebook in Azerbaijan should be limited. They think that it is necessary to create a special structure to control Facebook and other social networks.
March-April. The head of the Baku office of NDI, Alex Grigoriev, cannot enter Azerbaijan. NDI president Kenneth Wollack said: “the repetition of untrue information does not make it true. NDI and its local partners help the organizers of the public community, young leaders and other citizens in their peaceful and constructive cooperation with local authorities for the improvement of their communities.” According to the statement, the NDI activity in relation to Azerbaijani authorities was completely transparent and all finances allocated to the NDI office and its representatives in Baku were used solely for the goals of the organization. According to the statement, the NDI office has been registered with the Ministry of Justice. In line with this registration, NDI submits financial reporting to the Ministry of Finance, as required by the law.
March. Some Azerbaijan official claim that the office of the American NGO National Democratic Institute (NDI) supported different political activities on Facebook in order to start a revolution in Azerbaijan.
March. Eynulla Fatullayev, former political prisoner and now the editor of the website haqqin.az, wrote that NDI spent $2 million on youth organization in Azerbaijan to realise a “Facebook Revolution” in the country. Fatullayev claimed there is no transparency for money spent by NDI in Azerbaijan.
March 18. National Security Minister Eldar Mahmudov has said telecom companies should help monitor social networking sites, as they are being used to recruit extremists.
March 14. Ramiz Mehdiyev, head of the presidential administration, has alleged that certain international organizations are paying and organizing young people via social networking sites. “The views of those who make provocative calls on Facebook about various events do not coincide with the views of the majority,” Mehdiyev told the state news agency Azertag. “Those calls on social networks are the emotions of young people supported and incited by the treacherous radical opposition.”
March 12. Azerbaijani Interior Minister Ramil Usubov has commented on the messages posted on social networks regarding protests. Addressing the event marking the 21st anniversary of the Interior Troops, Usubov said: “Some forces, who are interested in destabilizing the republic, took advantage of some families’ tragedies for their political interests and incited by these forces a group of young people posted messages on Facebook calling on citizens to join an illegal protest; this is a failed attempt aiming to create mistrust, and an artificial confrontation between the society and army.”
March 11. MP and “Motherland” Party chairman Fezail Agamali said that there is “the threat of Facebook. I see it and I think that at the time of election we can expect a series of unpleasant events.” According to Agamali, Facebook serves as a tool against the government: “Compatriots living abroad, the Armenian lobby and the radical opposition in Azerbaijan take part in this campaign. I think that the authorities should think about it now.” Agamalı also said thousands of people go into the street due to Facebook and it shows that the Facebook is now a real danger: “I am not against any of the actions,” he said. “But the fact is that these actions can be used for other purposes.”
March 10. Protest action against soldier deaths in Army was planned via Facebook.
February 2013
February – May. After recent events, some young activists in Azerbaijan are in prison for their Facebook use. Seven people from the “Nida!” (translation is the exclamation point) movement was arrested after the March 10 rally against soldiers deaths in the army. Procurator’s officials claimed they had handmade weapons for the purpose of using against the government. But representatives of the youth organisation claimed the seven were arrested for their political views and opinions which were published on different social networks. “Nida!” is one of the active youth organizations which struggles for democracy in the country.
February 1.
The Expression Online Coalition (EOC) strongly condemns the Azerbaijan’s government crackdown on the Internet freedom after the regime sentenced a well known blogger Emin Milli and other civil society activists to the administrative detention and ordered them to pay huge fines for organizing a peaceful protest via Facebook. As such, based on the Article 298.1[1] of the Administrative Error Code, the court sentenced Emin Milli to 15 days of administrative detention and imposed 2,500 AZN(2.348 EUR) fine[2] on youth activist Turgut Gambar, for using Facebook to make calls for participation in the opposition protest held in the center of Baku on January 26, 2013. The court decision states that the activists, who are accused of making calls on Facebook, placed “illegal” appeals on Facebook and invited citizens to take part in illegal protest and procession. The activists reiterated in their testimonies and at court hearings that they did nothing illegal by disseminating invitations on Facebook for participation in peaceful protest and that on the contrary, this right is given to them by the Constitution of Azerbaijani Republic.
The authorities have increased surveillance of the Internet and social networks since the 7thInternet Governance Forum that Baku hosted last year, said Emin Huseynov, EOC member and Institute for Reporters’ Freedom and Safety (IRFS) Chair. The wave of authorities’ crackdown on Internet includes pressure on internet-café owners in Ismayilli city not to open their cafes until the protest ended, slow-down of the speed of internet in Ismayilli and cyber attacks on news portals on the day of Baku protest (January 12).
‘There is a contradiction between these restrictions on the freedom of internet and the repeated statements of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev that internet is completely free in Azerbaijan’, said Emin Huseynov.
‘Above all, these actions contravene the Universal Declaration of human rights which says people have the right to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers,’ Huseynov said. The Expression Online Coalition believes that such actions can indirectly lead to self-censorship among internet users. The Expression Online Coalition calls on the government to ensure Azerbaijan upholds international standards regarding the right to freedom of expression and this right is respected and guaranteed both offline and online. The coalition calls on the government to guarantee unlimited Internet access and communication for every citizen of Azerbaijan. Specifically, the Expression Online Coalition calls on the Azerbaijan’s government to:
– Immediately release Emin Milli who received 15 days of administrative detention for his Facebook activity;
– Immediately withdraw 2,500 AZN fine imposed on Turgut Gambar for his Facebook activity;
– Immediately release journalist Faramaz Novruzoglu, who was arrested in 2012 for statements he posted on Facebook, and journalists Vugar Gonagov and Zaur Guliyev, who were arrested for uploading a video on Youtube; and
· Launch objective Investigation into the case of intimidation of the Internet café owners during social unrest in Ismayilli.
The Expression Online is a pioneer campaign launched in May 2012 by a consortium of Azerbaijani freedom of expression organizations including the Azerbaijan Media Center, the Human Rights Club and the Institute for Reporters’ Freedom and Safety (IRFS). The Expression Online Coalition seeks to develop best practices and promote an informed public dialogue to advance Internet access and freedom in Azerbaijan.
January 2013
January 26. Rally related to protest action in Ismayilli which demanded the resignation of a top official because his relative insulted residents was planned via Facebook.
January 12. Protest action against soldier deaths in Army was planned via Facebook.
facebookcafe 