Azerbaijan has deported three Swedish journalists detained during the latest attempt by the opposition to hold a protest rally, drawing condemnation from an international press freedom group, RFE/RL’s Azerbaijani Service reports.

My Rohwedder Street, Charlie Laprevote, and Charlotta Wijkström from the Swedish public broadcaster Sveriges Television had traveled to Baku to film a documentary on human rights.

They were detained on April 17 as police thwarted an attempt by the opposition to hold an antigovernment protest at a downtown park.

Orkhan Mansurzadeh from the Interior Ministry told RFE/RL that the journalists had not been accredited at the Foreign Ministry and were deported on April 18 in line with the law.

But Street told RFE/RL that she and her colleagues had not concealed their profession when they applied for visas. She added that officials at the Azerbaijani Embassy in Sweden told them their documents would be sent to the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry.
The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) urged the Azerbaijani authorities to stop obstructing the international press.

Read More »Azerbaijan Incurs Criticism By Deporting Swedish Journalists

Protesters wearing masks bearing the face of jailed journalist Eynulla Fatullayev will stage a protest outside the Azerbaijani Embassy on Wednesday 20 April 2011. The demonstration, by five London-based human rights organisations, marks the fourth anniversary of Azerbaijani journalist Fatullayev’s wrongful imprisonment. 

The “Fifty Fatullayevs” will face the Embassy as representatives hand in a letter calling on the Azerbaijani authorities to immediately and unconditionally release and compensate Fatullayev, who remains wrongfully imprisoned following his conviction in July 2010 on a charge of drugs possession. This latest charge is widely believed to have been fabricated in order to keep Fatullayev in prison despite a European Court of Human Rights judgment in April 2010 relating to charges from 2007 – only the second judgment of its kind – ordering his immediate release.

Source: Article19.org

Read More »“Fifty Fatullayevs” Outside London Embassy Demand Release Of Jailed Journalist

To avoid Internet censorship, Iran plans to create it’s own “muslim” Internet. “This will help to fight against western influence, and it will help the Persian language gain international language status,” says the Iran Trade Ministry representative.

According to Wired UK, all similar experiments, though, have failed, as users prefer free Internet.

Source: PCNews.am

Read More »Iran Wants to Create Own Internet

The number of entertainment magazines in Armenia is growing, while editors of the dailies complaining from the low level of reading. According to the RA Ministry of Justice over the last 3 years 52 new entertainment newspapers and magazines were issued in Armenia. And this is only 4 percent of the total number of 1,159 state registered print media, 759 out of which are newspapers and 364 magazines.

The market of glamorous magazines in Armenia has been developing since 2004. Just then magazines like “Afisha”, “Elite Life”, “Yerevan” started to be published.

Later, their number will increase dramatically and they will promote mainly luxury lifestyle – expensive cars, clothing and European brands, and importantly, all for an exclusive, special reader.

Meanwhile, because of a small market, which in practice is limited to pan-Armenian capital, only a small number of these magazines succeed in achieving a stable position. According to Hasmik Shamtsyan, the editor-in-chief of the “Design Delux”, the magazine content is not restricted to the topics dictated by its name. “We try to gather a big auditorium of readers both among the specialists and non-specialists in the field of design. That is why we write not only about architecture and design but also about cultural events,” says Shamtsyan.

Read More »Мagazines Flourishing On Grey Background of Newspapers in Armenia

Civil movement Multinational Georgia, defending the interests of ethnic minorities residing in Georgia, made a request to the President of Georgia and Prime Minister on dismissing Lado Vardzelashvili, Minister of Sport and Youth Affairs.

On the April 2, 2011 broadcast of the Club of the Funny and Inventive on Imedi TV, the Cosa Nostra team of the State Medical University answering the question about the greatest merit of Hitler, said “free gas for every Jewish family.” The jury, including Lado Vardzelashvili granted the highest ranking to the team for the answer. Later on the Minister made a public apology.

Multinational Georgia considers the incident of the kind is impossible to be eradicated trough apologies only even though it was timely.

We still cast doubts on the propriety of Lado Vardzelashvili’s maintenance to the position. But taking into consideration his apology at this stage we would refrain from enkindling campaign demanding his dismissal,” reads the statement by Multinational Georgia.

The movement suggests Minister “to prove his sincerity” regarding absolute intolerance to xenophobic and anti-Semitic expressions.

Read More »Multinational Georgia Requests the President to Dismiss Minister of Sport and Youth Affairs

When you are just a little kid you have so many hopes, dreams, and nice thoughts that occupy your mind… Thoughts that one day you will be a grown up person with the right to choose what’s right and what’s wrong for you…

When I was 8, I was full of emotions. If you could just enter my mind, you would go crazy with the beautiful colors that I created for my own… I was just an ordinary girl who loved music.

Music was all of me, in every tone I used to find me, my voice, my spirit, my breath. Inspired by music leaders like Chopin, Beethoven, List, I asked my mom to help me get into a music school. It was the time when I hoped to play on stages of all countries giving my emotions to people, hoping that music could give them a harmony of soul.

Read More »My Dream Went Away…

Sam Mahmoodi Sarayi, the book review editor at Shargh newspaper, is reportedly in grave physical and mental condition in Evin Prison.

The journalist, who suffers from chronic migraine and gastric complications, is being subjected to severe pressure in prison, sources tell Zamaneh.

Mahmoodi was arrested on March 1, and his condition is deteriorating because he needs to follow a restrictive diet and medication regime. He has been denied any family visits, speaking to them only by phone.

Mahmoodi is held in the quarantine section of Evin Prison and fears a harsh sentence.

The charges against him are propaganda against the regime and insulting the leader, as well as writing the song “I Confess…” and possessing a copy of Salman Rushdie’s The Satanic Verses. 

Source: Iranian.com

Read More »Iran: Concern Over Health of Jailed Iranian Journalist

The latest statement of the European Union regarding the political situation in Azerbaijan is not based on facts, Deputy Executive Secretary of the New Azerbaijan Party (NAP), MP Mubariz Gurbanli told NAP’s website. The EU position is far from objective, he added.

Some opposition parties refused to hold a rally in the place allocated for them by the Baku City Executive Power and committed unlawful actions on April 2, he said. The law enforcement agencies took legal measures in this regard.

Such actions are stopped by state authorities in European countries, he added. Therefore, voicing of such allegations are absolutely untrue, Gurbanli said.

“The statement reads that media representatives were under pressure during the protest and that they were arrested. But this contradicts the facts. Freedom of speech and press is fully guaranteed in Azerbaijan. Perhaps a journalist was involved in this action as a member of a political party; if so this journalist does not differ from other participants. All conditions were provided for journalists during these events and media representatives were in special form. They were free to cover events,” Gurbanli said.

Gurbanli said the socio-political stability is important for the Azerbaijani citizens today.

Read More »Azerbaijan’s ruling party condemns EU report on opposition’s rally

 Journalist Anna Israelyan of the “Aravot” daily regularly publishes a series of articles on violations involved in the packages of TV companies which were recognized as winners of the competition of broadcasting licenses for TV channels at the end of last year.

According to the journalist these violations have been ignored by the National Committee of Television and Radio (NCTR) providing the licenses.

Meanwhile, the journalist considers, NCTR had a biased approach towards “A1+”. On December 16, 2010, when NCTR opened the competition packages and it turned out that “A1+” was deprived of the right to dispose a channel for the 13th time, Anna Israelyan decided to by all means investigate all of the tenders.

“Competition process of previous years proved that packages of other TV companies, too, would certainly involve such false documents as were revealed by NCTR within “A1+” package,” says Israelyan.

And the journalist’s investigations succeeded to prove it.

Israelyan began to regularly publish series of articles entitled “Such are the winners’ tenders”, as well as photos of documents certifying violations in the “Aravot” daily, as well as to post them on her recently opened personal blog.

Read More »Checking the Checker: Journalist Registered Numerous Cases of Violations In Competition Packages of TV Companies Recognized As Winners