11:34, 14 December 2007

Azerbaijan: youth holds a protest action against pressure on mass media

On December 14, in the centre of Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, several dozens of activists of youth organizations held a non-sanctioned protest action against suppression of the freedom of speech and independent press.

Young people were giving out copies of the "Azadlyg" newspaper to passers-by and were shouting out "Azadlyg!" (Freedom!), demanding to release the arrested editor of this newspaper Ganimat Zakhidov.

In about 10 minutes, policemen arrived to the venue. The employees of law enforcement bodies detained almost all the participants of the action. All of them were brought to police stations.

Vafa Dzhafarova, head of the "Dalga" Youth Movement, told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent that at detention and delivery to police stations young activists were beaten. The arrested persons have not been released yet.

Author: Zaur Rasulzade, CK correspondent