Journalists Imprisoned in 2017 - Seymur Hazi
| Publisher | Committee to Protect Journalists |
| Publication Date | 31 December 2017 |
| Cite as | Committee to Protect Journalists, Journalists Imprisoned in 2017 - Seymur Hazi, 31 December 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/5a5c92daa.html [accessed 5 June 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
Azadliq | Imprisoned in Azerbaijan | August 29, 2014
| Job: | Internet reporter, Print reporter |
| Medium: | Internet, Print |
| Beats Covered: | Corruption, Human Rights, Politics |
| Gender: | Male |
| Local or Foreign: | Local |
| Freelance: | No |
| Charge: | Retaliatory |
| Length of Sentence: | 5 years to <10 years |
| Reported Health Problems: | Yes |
Police in Azerbaijan's eastern Absheron district arrested Seymur Hazi, a reporter for the opposition newspaper Azadliq, over claims that he attacked a man at a bus stop, the independent regional news website Kavkazsky Uzel reported.
The day after his arrest, the Absheron District Court charged the journalist with hooliganism, and ordered him to be held in pretrial detention for two months, the report said.
Authorities said that Hazi beat a Baku resident named Magerram Hasanov while waiting for a bus on his way to work, according to Kavkazsky Uzel.
Hazi said in court that he had acted in self-defense after Hasanov had insulted and attacked him, Kavkazsky Uzel reported.
Elton Guliyev, the journalist's lawyer, told Kavkazsky Uzel that he believed authorities had orchestrated the altercation as police arrived moments after it started. Guliyev said he believes Hazi was imprisoned in retaliation for his journalism.
Hazi, who also uses the name Haziyev, often criticized the Azerbaijani government's domestic and foreign policies in his reports for Azadliq, according to Kavkazsky Uzel. As a host for Azadliq's online TV program "Azerbaijan Saati" (Azeri Hour), he was critical of government corruption and human rights abuses.
Hazi was sentenced to five years in jail on January 29, 2015. A court upheld the sentence on September 29, 2015, according to the local press freedom group, Institute for Reporters' Freedom and Safety.
In 2016, Hazi received the Free Media Award, presented jointly by the Olso-based Fritt Ord and the Hamburg-based ZEIT-Stiftung Ebelin und Gerd Bucerius foundations, for reporting on corruption and the abuse of power.
Hazi was being held at the prison No. 17, according to Elchin Sadygov, a Baku-based lawyer.
The journalist's wife Nigar Hazi told CPJ in November 2017, that Seymur Hazi suffers from heart palpitations and rheumatoid arthritis.
