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In regard of the forthcoming visit of French President Francois Hollande to Azerbaijan the Secretary General of the international human rights organization "Reporters without Borders" Christophe Deloire, published an open letter to Hollande in which he calls to raise the issue of human rights violations in Azerbaijan, the release of the arrested journalists and bloggers, as well as to remind Azerbaijani counterpart about his commitments in human rights area.

“As you prepare for an official visit to Baku on 11 and 12 May, Reporters Without Borders, an international organization that campaigns for freedom of information, wishes to draw your attention to the elimination of media pluralism in Azerbaijan. The country lies in 160th place out of 180 in our 2014 World Press Freedom Index. In a media sector already largely controlled by the authorities, the crackdown on journalists, bloggers and independent news outlets continues to intensify,” reads the statement.

As General Secretary, Reporters Without Borders reports a biased regulatory authority, dubious acquisitions and the manipulation of the advertising market have given the authorities complete control over the broadcasting sector. The main foreign stations such as the BBC and Radio Free Europe have been barred since 2009. A handful of independent newspapers struggle to survive. The main one, Azadlig, is crumbling under the weight of astronomical fines and is close to financial strangulation.

According to the statement News providers that criticize the government face all kinds of attempts to intimidate them: threats, assaults, blackmail, smear campaigns. At least 10 journalists and numerous bloggers are in prison because of their activities of informing the public.

The threats that independent journalists face have forced many to flee the country. However, the authorities’ reach goes well beyond the country’s borders. On 18 April this year, the journalist Rauf Mirkadyrov of the independent newspaper Zerkalo was extradited to Azerbaijan from Turkey where he was based. As soon as he arrived, he was accused of spying for Armenia and put in prison.

“Although we understand perfectly well the economic and strategic advantages of closer ties with Baku, a frank dialogue between partners should not ignore a basic freedom,” notes Christophe Deloire stressing that the abolition of media pluralism considerably hampers the rule of law and the fight against corruption in Azerbaijan, without which Baku cannot be considered a reliable partner.

Earlier a similar statement was made by Human Rights Watch, which urged the French President during his visit to raise the human rights issue in Azerbaijan. Also, parliamentarians from France-Karabakh friendship group appealed to the President of France, for the latter to remind his Azerbaijani counterpart Ilham Aliyev about his commitment on human rights in the frameworks of assumption of the chairmanship in the Council of Europe and about European Convention on Human Rights.