RWB: Azerbaijan gets worse rank in "Press Freedom Index"

Azerbaijan occupies the 162nd place in the "Press Freedom Index of 2011-2012" of the international organization in defence of the media "Reporters Without Borders" (RWB). The traditional RWB's report on the "Press Freedom Index" was released on January 25.

"This year, Azerbaijan has dropped by 10 places, and there is a reason for that. First of all, this is the result of assassination of the publicist Rafiq Tagi and of arrests of bloggers and of attacks on journalists. However, the most important is failure to investigate all those facts, which indicates the government's policy," the agency "Turan" quotes a RWB's representative.

The study compares Azerbaijan and Belarus, which position has also deteriorated down to the 168th place.

The RWB calls Alexander Lukashenko and Ilham Aliev, Presidents of Belarus and Azerbaijan, "press predators" for criminal prosecution of journalists for their criticism.

More than hundred journalists and bloggers were detained in Belarus, thirty of whom were sentenced to imprisonment. "Using the same methods, Baku took control over social networks and took into custody those Internet users, who called to express protests online. Beatings, arrests of opposition journalists, physical threats and assaults violence has rapidly returned to the country, where the journalist (the publicist Rafiq Tagi) was killed, for the first time during last five years," the report states.

Once again, Finland and Norway were the freest countries in the field of press freedom. The five countries with the worst indexes of freedom are Iran, Syria, Turkmenistan, North Korea, and Eritrea.

Russia is in the 142nd place. The country has slightly improved its performance in relation to conviction of murderers of the journalist Anastasia Baburova and the lawyer Stanislav Markelov; however, according to the authors of the study, the overall situation in Russia remains low.

This year, Georgia occupied the 104th place because of pressure on journalists and bloggers, who were noticed of their sympathy to Russia.

Armenia occupied the 77th place in the ranking. "Nevertheless, the media remain subject to constant legal prosecution, and scale of harm caused only contributes to an atmosphere of fear in this country," the RWB believes.

In his turn, Emin Guseinov, Director of the Azerbaijani Institute for Reporters' Freedom and Safety (IRFS), expressed his content with the evaluations of the situation in Azerbaijan made by the RWB. "Perhaps, the only positive thing in the last year was the release from prison of the journalist Einullah Fatullaev," Emin Guseinov said.

However, the authorities of the country reject criticism of the press freedom.

According to Ali Gasanov, the head of the social and political department of the administration of the Azerbaijani President, international criticism is "biased".