In the run up to the presidential elections in October 2013, there have been increased attacks on free expression in Azerbaijan, and social media has become a new target for the country’s authorities.
It’s of deep concern that a conference on internet freedom is being held in one of the world’s most tawdry dictatorships, writes Mike Harris, Head of Advocacy at Index on Censorship, at his piece for
The gas-rich country presents itself as open and modern, but Azerbaijan is not safe for activists and journalists fighting for free speech, says Natasha Schmidt at Index on Censorship.
June-July 2012 saw a change in relations between the Russian government and society previously unknown in the post-Soviet period. This is first and foremost a radical change in the law governing civil and political rights i.e. relating to the very essence of the organisation of the state and the principles laid down in the Constitution.
The Azerbaijani government released nine prisoners who had been convicted on politically motivated charges on June 22, 2012, four days before a Council of Europe body is scheduled to discuss a report on political prisoners in the country, Human Rights Watch said today.
