The Center for Investigative Journalism (CIJ) has been registered by the Justice Ministry. The co-chairman of CIJ Seymur Verdizade told this to the Institute for Reporters' Freedom and Safety.
CIJ was created by Sheyda Nasibli in 2004. An appeal had been made to the Justice Ministry to register the organization at that time. However, the organization was rejected to be registered. The lawsuit of Sheyda Nasibli in connection with this issue was not fulfilled by local court instances. Then an appeal was sent to the European Court of Human Rights regarding this issue. ECHR issued a decision at the end of 2007 to fulfill Nasibli’s lawsuit. According this decision, a demand has been made for Azerbaijani government to register CIJ and pay CIJ EUR3000 in Compensations.
According to Verdizade, there’s no direct connection between this decision and the registration of the organization. At the beginning of September 2008, structural changes have been carried out within CIJ. A co-founder and co-chairman institute has been created in the organization. And the regulations of the organization have been renewed. At present S.Nasibli and S.Verdizade, who are the co-founders of the organization, are also the co-chairpersons.