A journalist with a leading Azerbaijani newspaper who had to be hospitalised last week after being stabbed in the chest by a miscreant, has been released. acording to Arif Aliyev, chairman of the Editors Association Yeni Nasil,
Four unidentified assailants encircled Agil Khalil, a reporter with the opposition daily Azadlig (Freedom), as he was leaving his office in the evening of March 13. One stabbed him in the chest, according to the Baku-based Institute for Reporters’ Freedom and Safety (IRFS). The hit narrowly missed Khalil’s heart, doctors who operated on him told the local press.
“This is the latest in a series of violent attacks carried out in an attempt to intimidate journalists in Azerbaijan,” Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) Executive Director Joel Simon said. “We call on the police to apprehend all those involved in this cowardly act. Failure to do so would once again embolden the enemies of Azerbaijan’s independent and opposition press.”
“Physical attacks against Azadlig journalists are frequent,” Reporters sans Frontières (RSF) said. “The attack against Khali was extremely serious and we urge the Azerbaijani authorities to investigate it thoroughly with the aim of identifying not only the perpetrators but also anyone who may have been behind it.”
Khalil, 25, was leaving Azadlig’s office in Baku at around 8pm Thursday last, when he was approached by the four men. Khalil recognised one of them as having followed him for several days and tried to flee, but the small group surrounded him and prevented him from doing so, IRFS’s director, Emin Huseynov, who visited Khalil in the hospital today, told CPJ.
“This violent attack underscores the dangers that media face in Azerbaijan where investigative journalists face pressure from the government and violence from criminal groups,” said International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) General Secretary Aidan White. “The authorities must launch a thorough investigation to find those responsible.”
IRFS correspondents arrived at the scene a couple of hours after the assault and tried to interview police and witnesses, but they refused to talk to them, Huseynov told CPJ. CPJ was unable to reach the Yasamal District Police in Baku—in charge of the criminal investigation—for comment immediately.
This was the second assault on Khalil in a month. Two unidentified men attacked the journalist on February 22 as he was trying to report on the cutting down of trees in the Baku area known as Olive Gardens. The men beat Khalil, broke his finger, took his press ID, and tried to strangle him with his camera’s cord. Khalil immediately reported the incident to police. Before the attack, Khalil had been warned not to report on the matter, IRFS said. Khalil covers social and environmental issues for Azaglig.
Azadlig is an opposition newspaper that has come under regular pressure from the government, acording to IFJ. Earlier this month, Ganimat Zahid, the newspaper’s editor-in chief, was sentenced to a four-year prison term for hooliganism. In 2006, Mirza Sakit, a correspondent for the newspaper was sentenced to three years in jail for what the union believes was a false conviction on drug charges. Azerbaijan has one of the worst records in the world for jailing journalists and harassing independent media.
