Index on Censorship: Azerbaijan has failed to do away with accusations of human rights abuses and corruption
“Stop the plunder! Thieves in the power, go! Resign!” These were just some of the chants from the scores of Azerbaijanis who gathered in Baku’s Mashul stadium on Sunday. The estimated 10,000 strong crowd was protesting the recent devaluation of the country’s currency and its detrimental effects on living standards. Demonstrators also spoke out against human rights abuses in the country, just 87 days before its capital is set to host the inaugural European Games, the article published on the site of human rights organization Index on Censorship reads.
“Ranging from consumer goods, real estate, construction materials, equipment, automotive spare parts, everything is so much more expensive,” stated the official Facebook event of the rally.
According to the article, the demonstrators turned to the subject of the International Olympic Committee (IOC)-backed Baku European Games. Ali Kerimli, from opposition party Azerbaijan Popular Front, criticized the amount of money spent on the event, saying it could instead be “directed to address the serious social and economic problems, raising the minimum wage and pension, which is only 150 manat (1 manat = $0.95),” the article reports citing Azerbaijani information agency Turan.
“Azerbaijani authorities have been fighting a PR battle on multiple fronts for some time, paying for everything from beautifying Baku, to glossy magazines and international mega-events like the Eurovision Song Contest,” the author writes adding that the most famous example is the shirt sponsorship deal with Spanish football club Atletico Madrid. With two failed Olympic bids behind them, it seems authorities are pinning their hopes on a successful European Games.
The author stresses that despite the attempts to rebrand, Azerbaijan has failed to do away with accusations of human rights abuses and high-level corruption. Ranking 126/175 in the latest Transparency International Corruption Perceptions Index, a leaked US diplomatic cable once compared the country to “the feudalism found in Europe during the Middle Ages.”
The author reminds that ahead of the 2012 Eurovision Song Contest, journalist Khadija Ismayilova uncovered how the Aliyev clan profited from the building of the Baku concert hall where the final was to be hosted. Today, Ismayilova is in jail on trumped up charges.
“Just a few months before Ismayilova’s arrest, a number of other prominent government critics — including human rights activists Rasul Jafarov and Leyla and Arif Yunus, lawyer Intigam Aliyev, and journalist Seymour Hezi — were all detained. Though not there in person, they and the other 100 or so political prisoners in Azerbaijan, played a key part in Sunday’s protest; their faces and names adorning posters across the stadium,” the article reads.
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