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Television stations and newspapers in Germany have been reporting extensively on human rights abuses in Azerbaijan ahead of the Eurovision Song Contest in Baku, and now Baku accuses “certain circles” in Germany of organizing a media campaign of slander and deceit against the country, says the well-known German weekly magazine “Spiegel.”

The publication notes that in the run-up to the Eurovision, Azerbaijan's human rights record has been in the spotlight. Since the country gained the right to host the contest, German and international media released series of reports about abuses by the regime of President Ilham Aliyev.

The German government's human rights commissioner Markus Löning has repeatedly criticized Azerbaijan's human rights record, noting that freedoms in the country have been sharply curtailed over the last 10 years, contrary to promises made by President Aliyev. Meanwhile, the Council of Europe's special rapporteur on political prisoners in Azerbaijan Christoph Strässer was denied a visa for Azerbaijan where he wanted to meet with political prisoners.

In its statement, “Spiegel” writes, the Embassy of Azerbaijan in Berlin accused Löning, Strässer, as well as other members of the German parliament for active participation in the campaign against Azerbaijan. The embassy also accused the German media, specifically “Spiegel” and the public broadcaster ARD, of providing “support” for the supposed campaign. “The content of the material distributed in the campaign clearly shows that certain circles in Germany plan to cause harm to Azerbaijan's image,” the statement said.

“Spiegel” notes that the comments by the Azerbaijani Embassy were a reaction to a statement made by the German Embassy in Baku, in which the embassy had rejected claims published in the “Yeni Azerbaijan” newspaper, the official mouthpiece of the ruling New Azerbaijan Party, that the German government had tried to influence reporting on Azerbaijan in the German media.

The criticism of human rights abuses in Azerbaijan has increased in recent months, which included reports of harassment against journalists, suppression of pro-democracy groups and the arrest of opposition demonstrators. According to “Human Rights Watch”, 6 journalists and 14 political prisoners are currently held in prison in Azerbaijan. And the recent report of the German Foreign Ministry criticized “state repression” in the country. The human rights organization Amnesty International is also campaigning for the release of political prisoners in Azerbaijan.

“Spiegel” writes that one of the judges from Germany's national contest to select its Eurovision entry, a prominent rapper Thomas D noted the song contest can't do more than raise awareness to the problems. “In order to improve the situation in Azerbaijan, it is necessary to have continuous political efforts,” he said, adding that it is important to make sure that everyone doesn't just forget about Azerbaijan when the final curtain falls.