REPORTER INFORMATION AGENCY HARASSED

Today, 29 January, in the press center of the Institute for Reporters' Freedom and Safety, Reporter Information Agency (RIA) founder Zulfugar Khayirkhabar conducted a press conference on obstacles, pressure and other problems that have arisen with RIA's online news website and its employees.  

Khayirkhabar said that these attacks began on the eve of the presidential elections conducted on 15 October. On the day of elections several people introducing themselves as police approached the agency’s employee Ulviyya Akhundova in front of her apartment and demanded that the agency’s site be shut down, according to Khayirkhabar. Khayirkhabar noted that they appealed to the Internal Affairs Ministry and Press Council both orally and in the written form, but their appeals have not been considered yet.  
 

Noting that  ria.az site has been subjected to hacker attacks numerous times, Khayirkhabar emphasized that police employees invited one of the hackers and gave him the task to destroy ria.az site. “However, they did not know that this hacker is one of those who created our site,” he said.  
 

Khayirkhabar stated that he put his apartment on sale although he lives in it and uses it as an office to broaden his activity. Khayirkhabar said that this was not a political order, but simply the results of arbitrariness committed by officials. “We are simply a news agency. However, we run column articles on site once in a while. There might be some people who don’t like the opinions expressed there,” said Khayirkhabar.