Link here while letting your readers know that you support Samir Sadagatoglu and Rafik Tagi -- and all journalists facing repression in Azerbaijan. Getting the word out is half the battle in garnering worldwide attention for Sadagatoglu and Tagi!
Reporters Without Borders is chock-full of sobering press-freedom news from Azerbaijan these days:
"Baku appeal court judge Rasul Safarov issued a ruling on 11 July confirming the Sabail district court’s decision to keep newspaper editor Eynulla Fatullayev in the national security ministry’s detention centre. Fatullayev is serving a 30-month sentence for libel but new terrorism charges were recently brought against him. Four employees of Gundelik Azerbaijan (one of the two newspapers he edits) - Famil Jafarli, Jeyhun Nagiyev, Aynur Elgunesh and Neymat Huseynli - have meanwhile been questioned as witnesses by the national security ministry. ... So far, more than 20 people working for Gundelik Azerbaijan and Realny Azerbaijan (Fatullayev’s other newspaper) have been interrogated."
"Reporters Without Borders condemns comments made by President Ilham Aliev in which he told a group of police academy graduates that he 'banned sanctions' against policemen responsible for violence against journalists covering the November 2005 legislative elections. 'I will always support the police,' he said. ... Policemen beat a total of 14 journalists during a demonstration by the opposition alliance Azadlig on 9 October 2005. Two of them, Ramiz Nadjafli, the editor of the weekly Boz Gurd, and Idrak Abbasov, a correspondent of the daily Ayna-Zerkalo, had to be rushed to hospital."
As reported on June 13, "The number of journalists who have taken this step (seeking asylum at embassies in Baku) in the past two and a half weeks now stands at 24. The embassies at which asylum requests have been made include those of Germany, Britain and the United States."
From CPJ Executive Director Joel Simon:
“Rafiq Tagi and Samir Sadagatoglu have already spent eight months in prison simply for expressing an opinion. While we recognize some readers may have been offended by that opinion, there is no justification for jailing journalists for what they publish or threatening them with death. We call on Azerbaijani authorities to overturn this conviction and free both journalists immediately.”
The CPJ named Azerbaijan one of the top 10 backsliders on press freedom this year.
Iranian Grand Ayatollah Mohammad Fazel Lankarani died June 16 in London. The senior cleric issued a fatwa in November 2006 calling for the deaths of Samir Sadagatoglu and Rafiq Tagi, which is on Lankarani's Web site in Q&A form (Lankarani's death, unfortunately, does not lift the fatwa):
To,
Esteemed religious authority, Grand Ayatollah Sheikh Muhammad Fazel Lankarani (may Allah grant him long life)
Recently one of the Azeri newspapers named Senat has published an article from Rafiq Tagi, an apostate journalist causing fury and wrath among Muslims of the region. (A translation of his article is enclosed.) The writer of the article is trying to conclude with his analysis that Europe and its religion, Christianity are superior in all aspects to the Middle East and its religion, Islam. He describes Islam as inferior to Christianity in all aspects. In a section of his article he has insulted the Holy Prophet (pbuh) and ridiculed all sanctities of Islam. And at the end of the article, the writer has declared that he has written the article intentionally, knowingly and with full knowledge of its consequence. He has vowed to write more.
Moreover, this same newspaper has many a number of times attacked, disrespected and desecrated Islamic sanctities and it has even published pages from “Satanic Verses” by Salman Rushdie.
Question:
What is the duty of Muslims with regard to this unbearable issue?
Your Followers from
AzerbaijanIn the name of Allah, the Most Exalted
Such a person is an apostate in view of his confessions, if he is a Muslim. If he had been an unbeliever (Kafir), he is considered as someone who has insulted the Prophet and in any case, given his confessions, it is necessary for every individual who has an access to him to kill him. The person in charge of the said newspaper, who published such thoughts and beliefs consciously and knowingly, should be dealt with in the same manner. We pray to Almighty Allah to grant Muslims and Islam protection from the evils of their enemies.
يُرِيدُونَ لِيُطْفِؤُوا نُورَ اللَّهِ بِأَفْوَاهِهِمْ وَاللَّهُ مُتِمُّ نُورِهِ وَلَوْ كَرِهَ الْكَافِرُونَThey want to put out the light of God with their mouths, but God will certainly make His light shine forever - even though the disbelievers may dislike this (61:8).
Muhammad Fazel Lankarani
24/11/2006
I saw this coming, but it's still good reason to be angry:
"A Baku appeal court on 6 July upheld the prison sentences imposed on 4 May on Samir Sadagatoglu, the editor of the weekly Sanat, and Rafik Tagi, one of his journalists, for an article critical of Islam, entitled 'Europe and Us,' that was published on 6 November 2006. Sadagatoglu was sentenced to four years in prison, and Tagi to three years."
Cases like this really give us a reason to pause and be thankful that we can live and work in a country with a free press. "Europe and Us" simply discussed whether European societies were more tolerant and more successful than Islamic ones, a subject that could be debated at any given moment in an American paper. "There are no offensive words addressed to the Prophet," Tagi said. "On the other hand, we do not live in a religious state."
LEARN ABOUT THE CASE: Samir Sadagatoglu and Rafik Tagi - Journalists jailed for 'insulting' Islam
Who are they, you might ask? Tagi wrote an article for the Senet weekly newspaper last year titled "Europe and Us," comparing the successfulness of European and Islamic societies and taking into account tolerance and predominant religious beliefs. Sadagatoglu was editor of Senet. When asked to retract the article, they refused. The two Muslim men were tried and convicted for "insulting Islam"; Tagi was sentenced to three years, Sadagatoglu received four years in prison. Not only were fatwas placed on their lives, but their lives were threatened in the courtroom -- and journalists simply covering the proceedings received threats as well!
You may think Azerbaijan is a world away, but those of us lucky enough to have free voices owe it to these two brave journalists to speak up for them -- and for the other Azeri journalists in danger. That's what this site is for. Here you'll find information on the case, press freedom in Azerbaijan, and other instances of "insulting Islam" charges being used to silence journalists and bloggers. Please contribute your comments and share the link!
Recent Comments