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OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Dunja Mijatović today said she was outraged by the lengthy prison sentence handed down to journalist of Azerbaijani newspaper “Bizim Yol” Parviz Hashimli. The statement can be found on the OSCE site.

Hashimli, a journalist with the newspaper Bizim Yol, was sentenced to eight years in prison on charges of smuggling and illegal storage and sale of firearms. During the investigation Hashimli repeatedly reported about harassment and ill-treatment by the MNS of Azerbaijan.

“I am appalled by today’s court decision,” Mijatović said. “I call on the authorities to stop locking up members of the media to silence them.”

According to Mijatović there are now more than 10 members of the media in prison in Azerbaijan, convicted or awaiting trial, which is the highest number in that country my Office has observed since it was established. This troubling trend discourages investigative journalism and contributes to a climate of threat and intimidation, she said.

Reporters Without Borders condemns the eight-year jail sentence of Parviz Hashimli.

According to Johann Bihr, the head of the Reporters Without Borders Eastern Europe and Central Asia desk, Hashimli’s conviction is a yet another example of how the authorities have fabricated charges in order to silence a critic.

“Hashimli is the victim of arbitrary justice that denied him the right to present evidence of his innocence. We are outraged that a trial flouting every defence right could be held in Azerbaijan immediately after it assumed the rotating presidency of the Council of Europe’s committee of ministers. We urge the justice system to quash this conviction on appeal and to release Hashimli without delay,” reads the document.

In its turn the Committee to Protect Journalists stated that the eight-year prison term given today to a journalist in Azerbaijan is a breach of the country's declared commitments to press freedom.

Instead of bringing its press freedom and human rights record in line with the values of the Council of Europe, Azerbaijan continues to reach new lows," said Muzaffar Suleymanov, CPJ's Europe and Central Asia program researcher. "We call on the members of the Council of Europe to hold Azerbaijan accountable and demand the release of Parviz Hashimli and all journalists in jail for their work," he noted.

The employee of independent newspaper "Bizim Yol" (Our way) and director of the site “Moderator.az” Parviz Hashimli was arrested on 17 September 2013 Azerbaijan. Hashimli was detained at the editorial office of the site “Moderator.az” by the MNS officers. The MNS officers entered Hashimli’s private house in Baladzhary village and the editorial office of "Bizim Yol" newspaper at the same time. MNS officers "found" 30 grenades and a pistol in Hashimli’s house. Wife of the journalist noted that weapons were brought into the house by the MNS staff. Hashimli’s arrest was condemned by a number of international human rights organizations, including - Amnesty International, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) and others.