The President of Azerbaijan has signed a law that, according to experts, will greatly complicate the life of journalists remaining in the country. They are now required to register in a single register, indicate their data and cannot receive funding from abroad. The draft of this law was hidden from the public for seven months, BBC reports.
Under the new media law, a unified register of mass media should appear in Azerbaijan.
According to some articles (26 and 74), people without higher education, those who are unable to work, those previously convicted of serious crimes and “crimes against public morality” cannot enter the register, establish mass media and participate in it.
Political parties can only create print media. And the local press is not eligible to receive foreign funding.
In addition, when registering in a unified register, the media must provide the executive authorities with the addresses, ID numbers and contacts of the founder, editor and all journalists (Article 73). It is also necessary to provide contracts with journalists, their tax data, a certificate of education and no criminal record.
“Journalists are subject to very strict and unlawful requirements for inclusion in the register – higher education, no criminal record. In other words, the requirements for a journalist are overstated,” says media law lawyer Alesker Mammadli.
According to him, this new law, although it does not directly indicate the obligation of all journalists to enter the register, will become a pretext for pressure on them.
“If a journalist at a rally, for example, is beaten by the police, then this law may become a reason for them to say that, they say, we do not officially consider you a journalist,” the lawyer says. According to him, the registry approach actually equates journalists with civil servants.
The law developed by presidential decree was adopted by the parliament on December 30, 2021, right before the New Year holidays. And before that, within seven months from the moment of its development, the draft of this new law was not published.
This outraged the few representatives of the local independent press, who could only guess what could be in it.
In early December, the draft law appeared on the website of the Parliament, and there were even more restrictive clauses. After the meeting of parliamentarians with Azerbaijani lawyers, some of these points (such as the mandatory licensing of Internet broadcasters) disappeared.
The new law, even before it was passed by parliament, was criticized by the international human rights group Reporters Without Borders.