FEBRUARY 2, 2005
Posted: February 4, 2005
Akrep Hasanov, Monitor
HARASSED, THREATENED
Hasanov, an Azerbaijani journalist with the independent weekly Monitor in the capital, Baku, was abducted by military officers and held in detention for five hours, Hasanov told CPJ. The journalist says he was detained in retaliation for writing an article about abuses and mismanagement in an Azerbaijani military unit.
On Tuesday, February 1, Hasanov received a phone call from a man who introduced himself as a teacher who had evidence of abuses in a Baku school. The man offered to meet Hasanov the next day at noon to talk and give him the documents. When Hasanov arrived at the appointment near a Baku subway station, two men in plainclothes grabbed him and took him by foot to the nearby military headquarters in Baku's Old City, Hasanov told CPJ.
The officers held him in detention for five hours yesterday and forced him to write a statement acknowledging the falsity of a recent article he wrote criticizing the poor living conditions for soldiers in a military unit in the northwestern region of Goranboy. The article, which was published on January 29, 2004, outlined corruption by military commanders and psychological abuse of soldiers, as well as lack of food and heating and poor combat preparedness.
Military officers told Hasanov that if he did not sign the statement, they would detain him indefinitely. The officers also threatened to harm his mother and have his uncle fired from his job. Hasanov signed the statement and was released yesterday after five hours, he told CPJ.
Upon detention, officers took Hasanov's cell phone, recorder, and tape, which contained interviews with soldiers at the Goranboy military unit. Officials returned the items after his release but had erased the contents of the tape, Hasanov said.
Hasanov told CPJ he is planning to report the abduction to the police and Prosecutor General's Office on Friday.
On February 3, the Interior Ministry issued a press release denying Hasanov's allegations and published his statement of apology. The press release said the journalist was invited to the military headquarters for a conversation in response to the "libelous and insulting military article." In the process of the conversation, the release said, Hasanov admitted that the article was false and that he had never visited the Goranboy military unit.
Elmar Huseynov, Monitor's editor, told CPJ that civilians are never admitted to the heavily guarded military headquarters.
Monitor weekly has long suffered harassment from state authorities for its critical reporting and sharp commentaries.
MARCH 2, 2005
Posted: March 7, 2005
Elmar Huseynov, Monitor,
KILLED—CONFIRMED
Huseynov, the founder and editor of the opposition weekly news magazine Monitor, was gunned down in his apartment building in the capital, Baku.
Huseynov was shot several times while walking up the stairwell of his building on his way home from work, according to local press reports. The shooting occurred at approximately 9:00 p.m., and the editor died at the scene, the Baku-based independent news agency Turan reported.
The attack appears to have well planned and orchestrated. Chingiz Sultansoy, deputy director of the Baku Press Club, told CPJ in a telephone interview from the crime scene that a light at the entrance of the apartment building was not working, and that several telephones in the area had been disconnected at the time of the shooting.
Sultansoy told CPJ that Huseynov's family said the editor had received several threats and was concerned about his security.
Eynulla Fatullayev, an investigative reporter with Monitor, told CPJ he believes that Huseynov's murder was related to his work.
Monitor has long angered officials with hard-hitting commentary.
The magazine currently faces several lawsuits in retaliation for its critical reporting, and journalists working for the publication have faced a steady stream of harassment from government officials.
In February, military officials abducted Monitor journalist Akrep Hasanov and held him for five hours after he had exposed abuses and mismanagement in an Azerbaijani military unit.
Huseynov's murder comes amid a broad government crackdown on the media and opposition activists that followed flawed presidential elections held in October 2003.