Azerbaijan: Media freedom is non-existent

On 20 February 2022, Radio Free Europe published a devastating report about freedom of the media in Azerbaijan after a new law was approved on 8 February 2022: "Journalists hounded and harassed to the point where many have fled the country. Independent or opposition media shuttered or blocked online. Nearly all news media reaching the public controlled by the government. For years, media experts and others have been warning about Azerbaijan's dire media landscape. And now they say it could get even worse. Despite protests from many of the remaining independent reporters in the country and criticism from the West, including the Council of Europe, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev approved a new law on the media on February 8. The legislation, passed by the country's largely rubber-stamp parliament in late December 2021, places fresh restrictions on the owners of media operating in Azerbaijan as well as journalists, who will be required not only to register with the authorities but to abide by other new rules, including one on the "˜objective" interpretation of facts and events." World Watch Research analyst Rolf Zeegers sees this as a perfect indication of how "˜tolerant" the country"s regime really is. "For years, Azerbaijan has been promoting itself as the "˜Land of Tolerance", something which country representatives have been obliged to do at numerous conferences. The above report clearly shows that all that propaganda was far from the truth. What is more, such restrictions not only affect the media. Religion in Azerbaijan is also under strict state control. Registration is obligatory for religious groups but not all groups succeed in getting such official recognition. The authorities have developed this system as a perfect strategy for limiting the number of registered groups. Every so many years the regime launches a new round of registration and each time fewer and fewer groups obtain permits to operate. The news about the new media restrictions is just another indication that freedom in Azerbaijan is not improving and this is bound to affect Christians as well."