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International human rights organization Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has published the list of 10 most censored countries where journalists are threatened with imprisonment and Internet access is restricted to silence the press. Azerbaijan got the 5th place in the list. The list, published on CPJ website, is based on research into the use of tactics ranging from imprisonment and repressive laws to harassment of journalists and restrictions on Internet access.

According to the article, government harassment is a tactic used in at least five of the most censored countries, including Azerbaijan, where offices have been raided, advertisers threatened, and retaliatory charges such as drug possession levied against journalists.

“The main sources of information in Azerbaijan are broadcasters, which are owned and controlled by the state or its proxies. International broadcasters are barred or their satellite signals are jammed. Critical print outlets have been subjected to harassment from officials, including debilitating lawsuits, evictions, a ban on foreign funding, and advisories to businesses against advertising,” the publication reads.

As the article has it, online speech is subject to self-censorship because of a criminal defamation law that carries a six-month prison sentence. News and social media websites are blocked arbitrarily.

“At least 10 journalists and bloggers, including the award-winning reporter Khadija Ismayilova, are in Azerbaijani jails. Several critical journalists fled the country in 2014, and those remaining faced attacks and harassment, were banned from traveling, or were prosecuted on fabricated charges,” the organization says.

The authors of the list mention Emin Huseynov, director of the Institute for Reporters' Freedom and Safety (IRFS), who was forced into hiding in August, 2014 after authorities raided his office, confiscated all of IRFS' documents, and sealed the premises.

“Several other international non-governmental organizations that supported the local media were also forced to cease work in Azerbaijan after authorities accused them of tax evasion, raided their offices, and froze bank accounts. Staff at these organizations and their families faced harassment from officials,” the article reads.

CPJ states that imprisonment is the most effective form of intimidation and harassment used against journalists. Seven of the 10 most censored countries - Eritrea, Ethiopia, Azerbaijan, Vietnam, Iran, China, and Myanmar - are also among the top 10 worst jailers of journalists worldwide, according to CPJ's annual prison census.

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