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The Azerbaijani government has gone to great lengths to make the country appear as law-abiding and democratic in an attempt look legitimate and draw foreign money, Index on Censorship reports. 

It is noted in the article that Azerbaijan has previously hosted other significant sports and cultural events — including the inaugural European Olympic Games in 2015 and the Eurovision Song Contest in 2012. However, it is emphasized that President Ilham Aliyev’s autocratic regime, which has been in power since 2003, only imprisoned journalists, activists and opposition politicians, led a crackdown on independent media outlets, and allowed a climate of violence against critics to fester.

Over 100 political prisoners have been detained since 2011. Around 70 of these prisoners remain behind bars. It is reminded that Azerbaijani investigative journalist Khadija Ismayilova may have been released from prison last month, but two trumped-up charges against her remain. Her seven-and-a-half-year jail sentence has only been reduced to a three-and-a-half-year suspended term and she is not free to leave the country.

The Committee to Protect journalists (CPJ) lists Azerbaijan as the fifth most censored country in the world. The ranking is in part due to the lack of independent media as “offices have been raided, advertisers threatened, and retaliatory charges such as drug possession levied against journalists”.
Moreover, torture and ill-treatment are widespread against political prisoners. Youth activists Bayram Mammadov and Giyas Ibrahimov were tortured in May 2016, allegedly to draw confessions for trumped-up drugs charges.

Public attacks against journalists are widespread and murder is not uncommon. In 2005, Elmar Huseynov, an independent Azerbaijani journalist, widely known for his harsh criticism of Azerbaijani authorities, was murdered.

Meanwhile, Turan news agency reports that the local Formula 1 race organizers denied accreditation to the agency’s press photographer, Aziz Kerimov, for covering the competition.

According to the information, the representatives of the organizing committee had been assuring them for a long time that the accreditation is not given by them, but by the Formula 1 chief executive, Bernie Ecclestone, and it was necessary to wait. However, the agency informs that the representative of the organizing committee was lying, as reporters of other websites and newspapers had already got accreditation.

Meanwhile, BBC reports that leading Formula 1 drivers have questioned the safety of the new Baku street circuit. Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg said parts of the track in the Azerbaijani capital were “really not looking good”, and some corners “don't have any run-off at all”. 

Sportbox.ru writes that British Formula 1 driver Jenson Button also expressed safety concerns in the run-up to the street race in Baku.

“It's just that on certain corners here, it looks as if there is not a lot of run-off. Hopefully I'm wrong,” he said. “We work so hard on safety, improving circuits all the time and we come here and we have corners like T3, T7 and T14 that don’t have any run-off at all. Turn 7 has three Tecpro barriers and then a concrete barrier at the edge of the circuit. There is not much you can do because there is a building in the way.”

The first practice before the European Grand Prix in Baku was marked with Red Bull driver Daniel Ricciardo’s crash and red flags, Sports.ru reports.

It is noted that Ricciardo tried to attack, however, while exiting turn 15, he snapped off his right rear wheel after clipping a barrier. After the incident, red flags appeared on the track.

According to Report.az, Haas team driver Esteban Gutierrez lost his way. Instead of turning left at the 16th turn of the track, the pilot drove forward toward the closed part of the road. Then he turned right, and continued racing.

At the same turn, Renault driver Kevin Magnussen and the pilot of Red Bull Daniel Kvyak faced a similar situation.

European Gran Prix is held in Baku from June 17 to 19. Earlier, a number of international media outlets and human rights organizations stated about the inadmissibility of holding Formula 1 in Azerbaijan due to the authorities’ repressions against the civil society, persecution of human rights defenders, independent journalists, and other critics of the regime. Journalist Molly Scott wrote on New Internationalist website that Azerbaijan’s government ignores its citizens’ basic rights, and tha Formula 1 fans should demand to cancel the race scheduled for Baku in 2016. International news agency Reuters noted that the sporting extravaganza began to irritate the Azerbaijani society in conditions of serious economic crisis.