Interview with Sarah Paulsworth, Public Relations Coordinator,
Institute for Reporter Freedom and Safety (IRFS), Azerbaijan

Timeline

11 February 2009: Baku Court of Appeal upholds court of first instance decision rejecting Fatullayev’s case against Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

23 December 2008: Fatullayev appeals the decision of Yasamal District Court rejecting his case at the Baku Court of Appeal.

24 November 2008: Yasamal District Court rejects Fatullayev’s lawsuit as groundless.

12 November 2008: IPI launches its Justice Denied campaign, calling for Eynulla Fatullayev's release, among other issues.

20 October 2008: Fatullayev lodges lawsuit against the Ministry of Foreign Affairs at Yasamal District Court, alleging failure to respond to an inquiry in breach of the Law on Obtaining Information.

3 June 2008: The Supreme Court of Azerbaijan affirms 16 January 2008 Court of Appeal holding.

16 January 2008: Court of Appeal upholds the judgement of 30 October 2007.

30 October 2007: Azerbaijan's Grave Crimes Court imposes an eight-and-a-half-year prison sentence on Fatullayev for terrorism and other charges (additional to the original insult charges).

6 September 2007: Tax evasion charges are filed against Fatullayev.

21 August 2007: Supreme Court of Azerbaijan upholds 30 month prison sentence for defaming the Azeri people (regarding the Khojaly massacre in Nagorno-Karabakh) - "dismissed the applicant's cassation appeal".

6 June 2007: The Court of Appeal upholds the Yasamal district court's sentencing.

22 May 2007: Authorities file "terrorism" charges against Fatullayev.

20 April 2007: The Yasamal district court finds Fatullayev guilty of charges relating to the "Khojaly Tragedy".

23 February 2007: A civil action is lodged against Fatullayev by the head of the Centre for Protection of Refugees and Displaced Persons. The complaint involves an article about the "Khojaly Tragedy" during the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, and sets off a chain of complaints that ultimately lead to his imprisonment for "falsely accusing" Azerbaijani soldiers of committing a grave crime.

26 September 2006: Fatullayev is convicted of defamation and handed a two-year suspended sentence, for writing an article that exposed financial links between the Azeri Interior Minister and a former official who some allege killed Azeri journalist Elmar Huseynov.

23 September 2004: Eynulla Fatullayev is arrested at Baku airport and prevented from leaving the country (authorities cite an order from the Prosecutor General barring him from leaving Azerbaijan).

Incidents of judicial harassment against Fatullayev date as far back as 2000, during his time as an editor at the Milletin Sesi and Monitor newspapers. By 2001, Fatullayev was already facing several lawsuits related to articles he had written, and in both 2002 and 2003 he was found guilty of criminal defamation and fined for articles he had written criticising the government.

Pressure increased on Fatullayev following the murder of his journalist colleague Elmar Huseynov in 2005. Fatullayev investigated and reported on financial links between the Interior Minister, Ramil Usubov, and a former public official believed by some to have been involved in Huseynov's murder. Usubov launched criminal defamation charges against Fatullayev under articles 147(2) and 148 of the Azeri criminal code in 2006, and Fatullayev received a two-year suspended sentence and ordered to pay US$ 11,500 in damages.

This conviction almost led to the closure of Realny Azerbaijan. Nevertheless, Fatullayev continued to report on government corruption and the lack of will to locate and bring to justice those responsible for the murder of Huseynov. Death threats against Fatullayev and his family culminated in October 2006 with the kidnapping of his father, whose safe return was made on the condition that Fatullayev cease the publication of Realny Azerbaijan. Fatullayev shut down the newspaper, but recommenced operations two months later, acknowledging the risk he was taking as his father's kidnappers were still at large.

Harassment by the authorities continued unabated and, on 20 April 2007, Fatullayev was imprisoned for defaming the Azeri nation in an internet post attributed to him. The post referred to the 1992 massacre of Azeri citizens in the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh, stating that Azerbaijanis themselves were responsible for the killings. Fatullayev denied writing the post, but was nevertheless sentenced to 30 months in prison for libelling and insulting the Azeri people.

The victimisation of Fatullayev did not stop once he was imprisoned. In May 2007, new charges were brought against him under Article 214 of the Criminal Code for "calling for terrorism", with the authorities claiming that Fatullayev had assisted the Armenian Special Forces. Then, in July of the same year, fresh charges were made by the Ministry of National Security (MNB), this time for "incitement to ethnic and religious hatred." These charges related to an earlier editorial in Realny Azerbaijan in which Fatullayev, writing under a pseudonym, criticised President Ilham Aliyev's foreign policy regarding neighbouring Iran. Finally, in September 2007, the MNB added tax-evasion to the growing list of charges against Fatullayev.

Fatullayev has been found guilty of all charges, and is currently at the beginning of an eight-and-a-half year sentence. In addition, both Realny Azerbaijan and the Gundalik Azarbaycan are no longer in print. The premises of both newspapers were raided by the authorities, the staff interrogated and evicted, and all computers confiscated.

The OSCE and the Council of Europe have both pointed to the persecution of Fatullayev, and called for his immediate release. Unfortunately, their calls have not been heeded. Fatullayev's appeals have been rejected by the highest courts in Azerbaijan, and his only remaining legal recourse is to take his case to the European Court of Human Rights, a lengthy process.