OPPOSITION NEWSPAPER MAY BE DEPRIVED OF PREMISES IN AZERBAIJAN
PanARMENIAN.Net
20.10.2006 13:47 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The committee on state property of Azerbaijan has
brought a suit to the economic court with a demand to evict Azaldyg
opposition newspaper from premises in the center of Baku. According
to the suit, the offices of National Front Party, Our Way newspaper,
Turan news agency, the Foundation of Democracy Development and some
other structures should also be evicted from the building. The state
committee requested the court to consider invalid the decision of
the city administration that granted the premises at the disposal of
the Azaldyg and also urged the newspaper to make amends totaling $30
thousand for using the premises without paying the rent. Meanwhile
Azer Akhmedov, the Azaldyg director said that the decree of the Mayor
doesn’t call for rent from any structure. The editorial staff rates the
move as pressure and an attempt to close the opposition newspaper. In
their opinion the campaign launched against the newspaper is a state
order authorized at ‘the highest level’, reports RFE/RL.