ONE MORE INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION ADDRESSES TO GOVERNMENT REGARDING SECURITY OF EYNULLA FATULLAYEV AND HIS FAMILY

International organization of human rights defenders Amnesty International addressed an appeal rights to the government regarding providing the security of Gundelik Azerbaijan and Realniy Azerbaijan newspapers’ imprisoned editor-in-chief Eynulla Fatullayev and his family, according to radio Liberty.

Amnesty International said in its appeal that Eynulla Fatulayev’s father Emin Fatullayev was phoned for three times by anonym person and he was told that he would be killed if did not stop talking about his son. Emin Fatullayev was phoned in 2007 for the first time after the imprisonment of Eynulla Fatullayev and the second call was in 2010, 1 January after narcotic accusation against the journalist, and the third was on March 17. The appeal said that Emin Fatullayev informed regarding this to Interior Affairs Ministry, but any step was not taken to provide Eynulla Fatullayev and his family’s security.  

17 March, Eynulla Fatullayev’s father received a phone call from an unidentified person who told him, “your son and you should not speak much or things might turn bad for you and we will destroy you.” Emin Fatullayev said he immediately reported the threat to police. Eynulla Fatullayev released a statement claiming that late journalist Elmar Huseynov’s murder was organized by high-ranking NSM official Akif Chovdarov, and that Chovdarov himself admitted this to Fatullayev a day before that threatening.

17 March, the Committee to Protect Journalists issued a statement regarding threatening calls made against the family of imprisoned Editor-in-chief Gundelik Azerbaijan and Realniy Azerbaijan Newspapers Eynulla Fatullayev.

In the statement, CPJ called on Azerbaijani authorities to thoroughly investigate the death threat made against imprisoned editor Eynulla Fatullayev, a 2009 recipient of CPJ’s International Press Freedom Award, and his family.

Eynulla Fatullayev was sentenced to 2.5 years of imprisonment on 21 April 2007 for insulting honor and dignity.  Later he was convicted under articles 214.1 (threatening terror), 283.2.2 (incitement of ethnic/national, social or religious hatred abusing authority), and 213.2.2 (tax evasion) of the Criminal Code and was sentenced to 8.5 years of imprisonment on 30 October 2007. Prior to the new charge against him, Fatullayev was serving his sentence in prison #12. On 29 December, 0.223 grams heroin was found on Fatullayev. Eynulla Fatullayev and his lawyer assess this incident as an operation set-up to prevent the decision of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) regarding the journalist in the near future. A criminal case was opened against Fatullayev in the Garadag District Investigative Department under article 234.1 of the Criminal Code (Illegal purchase or storage without a purpose of selling of narcotics or psychotropic substances in a quantity (amount) exceeding necessary for personal consumption) and he was transferred to the Baku Investigative Prison #2 on 2 January.          
Realniy Azerbaijan has been published as weekly newspaper, and Gundelik Azerbaijan was published as a daily newspaper since 2005. Eynulla Fatullayev established the newspapers and was the editor-in-chief of both publications. The newspapers ceased their activity after the arrest of the editor-in-chief in 2007.