Azerbaijan: Human Right Watch urges Baku to stop intimidating writer
| Publisher | Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty |
| Publication Date | 12 February 2013 |
| Cite as | Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Azerbaijan: Human Right Watch urges Baku to stop intimidating writer, 12 February 2013, available at: http://www.refworld.org/docid/51276ed58c.html [accessed 19 May 2013] |
| 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. |
February 12, 2013
By RFE/RL
Azerbaijani writer Akram Aylisli
Human Rights Watch says Azerbaijan's government "has led the effort" to intimidate a prominent writer because of his controversial novel.
The New York-based group said on February 12 that Baku has launched "a campaign of vicious smears" against Akram Aylisli."
On February 11, a progovernment party offered a $12,700 reward to anyone who cuts off one of Aylisli's ears.
Aylisli was officially stripped of his "People's Writer" title and his presidentially awarded pension last week.
He was also expelled from the Union of Azerbaijani Writers.
His wife and son have been forced to leave their jobs.
The actions were taken because of Aylisli's novel "Stone Dreams."
It focuses on clashes between Azerbaijanis and Armenians in Baku and Nagorno-Karabakh, the mostly Armenian-populated region that broke away from Azerbaijan in the early 1990s.
With reporting by AP
Link to original story on RFE/RL website
