Baku suspends indefinitely oppositional newspaper "Azadlyg"

The indefinite suspension of the oppositional newspaper "Azadlyg" (Freedom) is caused by the refusal of the state publishing house "Azerbaijan" to print the newspaper because of its debts. This decision is politically motivated, says the editorial board of the newspaper.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on July 22 "Azadlyg" employees held a picket in front of the Baku office of the state company for press distribution "Gasid", demanding to repay the debts of the distributor to the newspaper's editorial board.

On July 31, the publishing house "Azerbaijan" informed the board about the suspension of printing until the latter repays the debt of 20,000 manats (about 25,500 US dollars), said Rakhim Gadjiev, the first deputy editor-in-chief of the "Azadlyg".

"This is a result of the targeted squeezing the 'Azadlyg', which openly writes about human rights violations and corruption in the top echelons of power," said Gadjiev.

The publishing house "Azerbaijan" already suspended printing the "Azadlyg" on November 13, 2013, for the debts. Then, on November 15, a marathon action in support of the paper was held at the office of the Popular Front Party of Azerbaijan (PFPA), and thanks to the raised funds, the newspaper was resumed.

Earlier, the "Gasid" company explained that it was unable to repay its debts to the "Azadlyg" because of their own financial problems.