Your trusted source

Azerbaijan intends to sue Cash Investigation group of journalists of France 2 TV Channel, in particular reporter Elise Lucet, accusing them of discrediting Azerbaijan, L’Express reported at. Lawyer Olivier Pardo will defend Elise Lucet in court, the newspaper says.

On Monday France 2 aired a program at portraying Azerbaijan as a ‘dictatorship’ and Ilham Aliyev as a ‘despot’. During the program, concerns were raised over the grave human rights situation in Azerbaijan, especially the existence of political prisoners and crackdowns on dissent in that country.

The reporters discussed the visit of French President to Azerbaijan in 2014, during which Azerbaijani services seized from French reporters the recordings of their interviews with Leyla Yunus and Khadija Ismayilova.

L’Express recalls that Azerbaijan ranks 162nd out of 180 countries in the 2015 World Press Freedom Index. Outspoken criticism of the Aliyev regime triggers tough counteraction of the Azerbaijani authorities, the newspaper notes.