Growing pressure on independent media in Azerbaijan has prompted a high-ranking Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) official to question Baku's commitment to democratization. Nevertheless, a series of defamation cases that could cripple the ability of opposition media outlets to operate continues to make their way through the country's legal system. Opposition editors say the government wants to use the judiciary to silence its critics in advance of presidential elections expected in late 2003.

Yeni Musavat, among the most influential opposition newspapers, has been the subject of 14 lawsuits over the past three months, according to the daily's editor, Rauf Arifoglu. He asserts that the legal action is part of a government-orchestrated campaign to hinder the newspaper's ability to function. In an interview with EurasiaNet, Arifoglu said his paper has been fined a total of $100,000 already, and he expects that figure to rise.

"All these law suits are connected to the presidential elections later this year," Arifoglu says. "It's political pressure against the media, and we're expecting things to get even tougher. They always beat up journalists, arrest them and take them to court before elections."

Yeni Musavat's difficulties have caught the attention of Freimut Duve, the OSCE Representative on Media Freedom. In December, Duve sought an explanation from the Azerbaijani government over the lawsuits. As of early February he had yet to receive a reply from the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry, the Zerkalo daily reported. Duve, in comments published by Zerkalo on February 4, expressed concern that Azerbaijani authorities "appear reluctant to take measures to change the unsatisfactory media situation in the country."

"In a democracy, writing about the activities of public servants is part of a journalist's professional duties," Duve continued. "No special protection should be granted to public officials. They should exercise a greater level of tolerance toward criticism than ordinary citizens."

In the coming months, Arifoglu believes government pressure against opposition media will intensify. The presidential elections are planned for October, although a specific date has not been set yet. [For additional information see the Eurasia Insight archives].

Measures expected by Arifoglu include a sharp increase in the cost of newsprint and perhaps the closure of printing presses. The editor added that government could also resort to violence against opposition journalists. Two Yeni Musavat journalists, one of them Arifoglu's brother, have been beaten up in the street recently by people who said it was because they worked for the paper. One former Yeni Musavat journalist has been granted political asylum in Switzerland.

Arifoglu himself was arrested in 2000 after a bizarre series of events in which he was accused of involvement in a failed attempt to hijack an aircraft flying from the exclave of Nakhchivan to the capital, Baku. He was kept in solitary confinement for 45 days before being released, and his case was taken up by Amnesty International, the Council of Europe and others.

While he smiles about his ordeal and describes it as "completely absurd", Arifoglu has sent details of his arrest and imprisonment to the European Court of Human Rights, and is awaiting a response. He believes he has a good chance of winning significant compensation from the government.

International organizations including the OSCE and the Council of Europe are sometimes criticized for failing to put more pressure on the Azerbaijani authorities, but Arifoglu disagrees. "We felt the effects of Freimut Duve's [OSCE] statement last week," he says. "The situation has now changed slightly. Until that point, things were really difficult for us and every court decision went against us."

Arifoglu called for the continued engagement by the Council of Europe and other multilateral organizations with Azerbaijan, countering appeals by some rights activists for Baku's expulsion from such organizations for failing to meet obligations concerning freedom of speech.

"If Azerbaijan was no longer a member of the Council of Europe, there would be no Azeri delegation there at the Council and no contact between the Council and the authorities here. It would be very difficult to exert any pressure at all on the government," he says. "It [Azerbaijan's expulsion] would be a great blow not just for authorities, but for all the Azeri people, for Azerbaijan's democracy."

Arifoglu's views are echoed by Elmar Husseinov, the editor of the popular current affairs magazine Monitor, who spent a month in prison in 2002 over an article in another of his publications.

"If it wasn't for the Council of Europe, I'd still be in prison," he says. "The Council of Europe and the OSCE are our allies in the battle for freedom of expression. Some people think they aren't doing enough, but I think they're doing what they can because they have to keep up contacts with the government side too."

Husseinov set up Monitor in the late 1990s after he grew disenchanted with working for mainstream media. He especially complained about the practice of self-censorship, which he says is commonly practiced by mainstream journalists. His magazine specializes in reporting on alleged misdeeds committed by the governing elite and in exposing the corrupt practices that permeate Azerbaijani life. At present, Monitor faces a lawsuit for "defaming the honor and dignity of the people of Nakhchivan" in an article which compared the exclave to Sicily. Azerbaijan's President Heidar Aliyev is from Nakhchivan.

The case is scheduled to open February 14 at Sabayil Court in Baku, although Husseinov says he intends to boycott the proceedings. Like Arifoglu, he believes the case is part of an official campaign to silence the media in the run-up to the presidential elections. He fears that if he is found guilty, he could be sent to prison for up to a year because it is his second offense.

Monitor has already been suspended on numerous occasions, its license has been revoked, tax inspectors have sealed its offices and publishers have refused to print it. But Husseinov shows no desire to quit. "I like doing this; I couldn't do anything else in this country because the authorities wouldn't let me," he explains. "If everything was going well in Azerbaijan, I'd have nothing to write about, but right now there are lots of people who want to read Monitor, so we'll keep writing for them."