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Influential international organization Reporters Without Borders published a grim portrait gallery of 35 politicians and organizations, who are freedom predators and censor, imprison, torture or murder journalists. Azerbaijani president, IlhamAliyev, is among them.

According to the statement, IlhamAliyevhas been a freedom predator since 2003, when hesucceeded his father, Heydar Aliyev, as president. It is emphasized that Aliyev is known for his “megalomaniac dictatorship.”

“Not content with crushing all forms of pluralism, President IlhamAliyev has waged a relentless waragainst the few remaining critics since 2014. The security services stop at nothing to discredit orsilence journalists, including sex tapes, rumors and smear campaigns. If independent journalists andbloggers resist the pressure, the beatings or the attempts to blackmail or bribe them, they are thrown in prison,” the statement reads.

It is also noted that independent media outlets are either throttled economically (like Zerkalo and Azadlig) or are shut down by force. The latest inspired move for dealing with journalists who continueto cover Azerbaijan after fleeing abroad is to arrest and try their relatives still in Azerbaijan, usually ontrumped-up drug charges.

Therefore, in the space of a few years, IlhamAliyev obliterated what was left of pluralism in Azerbaijan.The main independent newspapers have been silenced, at least 8 journalists and bloggersare currently in prison and dozens of others have fled the country since 2014. The main enforcers are the police and courts, which follow orders of the National Security Service.

President of Egypt, Eritrea, Sudan, Burundi, Gambia, Syria, Cuba, China, North Korea, Russian, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Venezuela, Turkey, Bahrain, Congo, Singapore, Pakistan, political and militaristic groups, like the Islamic State (the organization is prohibited in a number of countries, including in the Russian Federation), Taliban in Afghanistan and Mexican criminal cartel “Los Zetas” are also included in the list.

Meanwhile, citing the BBC Azerbaijani service, the website of the Azerbaijani opposition media outlet Meydan TV reports that according to Ricardo Gutierrez – the European Federation of Journalist Secretary General – Azerbaijan is the worst country for media freedom in Europeafter Turkey.

“The problem are not only the alarms coming from Azerbaijan, the problem is that we cannot carry out our activities in Azerbaijan. We are not a political organization; however, we cannot work in that country. A few years ago, we wanted to hold a training about the security of journalists in Baku, however, we were not allowed. In Europe, the worst situation is in Turkey, however, even there we are able to work,”Gutierrez said.

Ricardo Gutierrez thinks that it is also difficult for the local representatives to establish contacts with the Azerbaijani authorities. Besides, he emphasized that the Union of Journalists – the representation of the European Federation of Journalist in Azerbaijan – informs them in detail about the arrested journalists.

Several months ago, Reporters Without Borders launched "Great year for censorship", an ironic campaign about 12 heads of state who celebrated their victories over media freedom. Azerbaijani president IlhamAliyev was among the participants of the campaign. The representatives of the organization noted that 7 journalists were imprisoned in Azerbaijan, and there were no independent TV companies. Many independent journalists are in exile, and the remained face attacks.