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Reporters Without Borders has condemned the move of state-owned publishing house Azerbaijan in an attempt to suspend the activity of the opposition newspaper Azadlig, Turan reported.

The watchdog organization sees it as a pretext for forcing the country’s main opposition newspaper to close. By demanding prior repayment of the debt, the government is preventing Azadlig from receiving its share of the state aid. Zahid has appealed to Press Council about this, but so far no action has been taken.

Violations of freedom of expression are common in Azerbaijan, which was ranked 146th out of 175 countries in the 2009 Reporters Without Borders press freedom index. Journalists are subject to arbitrary arrest, imprisonment and beatings. The country is still holding 3 journalists jailed.

In the latest case of violence against journalists, two newspaper reporters, Elmin Badalov of Yeni Musavat and Anar Gerayly of Milli Yol, were attacked on 28 July while they “dared” take photos of luxury villas owned by high officials. The journalists reported the incident to the police, however, the authorities have undertaken no steps to investigate into the case.