His Excellency President Ilham Aliyev
Baku, Azerbaijan

5 November 2007

Your Excellency,

We are writing on behalf of the World Association of Newspapers and the World Editors Forum, which represent 18,000 publications in 102 countries, to express our serious concern at the jailing of editor Eynulla Fatullayev.

According to reports, on 30 October Mr Fatullayev, editor-in-chief of the independent Realni Azerbaijan and Gundelik Azerbaijan newspapers, was convicted of terrorism, inciting ethnic hatred and tax evasion, and sentenced to eight and a half years in jail. The terrorism and inciting ethnic hatred charges derive from an article appearing in Realni Azerbaijan, in which Mr Fatullayev argued that the government’s support of the United States’ position on Iran makes Azerbaijan vulnerable to attack from Iran.

The conviction is the culmination of a concerted effort by the authorities to silence Mr Fatullayev and his newspapers. Mr Fatullayev’s conviction comes six months after a Baku court sentenced him to two-and-a-half years in prison for having committed “criminal libel” and “insult” with an internet posting, which he denied writing. Shortly after this conviction, Realni Azerbaijan and Gundelik Azerbaijan, the two largest circulation publications in the country, were effectively shut down after security services evicted staff from the papers’ premises, confiscated computers and sealed the offices.

We are seriously concerned at the politically motivated prosecution of Mr Fatullayev and the government’s growing hostility towards independent and opposition media. Violence and the threat of violence against journalists have become frequent in Azerbaijan, and often such crimes are committed with impunity. A dramatic increase in defamation charges brought against journalists by state officials has further contributed to the deteriorating environment for freedom of expression. Mr Fatullayev is reportedly the eighth journalist in Azerbaijan to be imprisoned for defamation and other criminal charges related to their professional activities.

We respectfully remind you that jailing Mr Fatullayev is a clear breach of his right to freedom of expression, which is guaranteed by numerous international conventions, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Article 19 of the Declaration states: “Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes the freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media, regardless of frontiers.”

We respectfully call on you to do everything possible to ensure that the conviction of Mr Fatullayev is quashed, that all charges against him are dropped, and that Realni Azerbaijan and Gundelik Azerbaijan are allowed to operate without interference. We urge you to take all necessary steps to ensure that in future your country fully respects international standards of freedom of expression.

We look forward to hearing from you at your earliest convenience.

Yours sincerely,

Gavin O’Reilly
President
World Association of Newspapers

George Brock
President
World Editors Forum

WAN is the global organization for the newspaper industry, with formal representative status at the United Nations, UNESCO and the Council of Europe. The organization groups 18,000 newspapers in 102 countries, 11 news agencies and nine regional and world-wide press groups. WAN is non-governmental and non-profit.