Elmar Huseynov, the editor of the outspoken anti-government weekly publication, Monitor, was shot dead by an unknown assailant on March 2. The first thing that jumped to my mind when hearing about this was the murder of Gongadze in Ukraine, who was the anti-government editor of Ukrainska Pravda.

HRW, New York, 04.03.2005 — The Azerbaijani government must fully investigate the killing of the editor of the independent weekly magazine Monitor, Human Rights Watch said today. The murder of the editor, Elmar Huseynov, is a frightening reminder of the danger of outspoken criticism in Azerbaijan.

On the evening of Wednesday, March 2, an unknown attacker shot dead Huseynov, founder and editor of Monitor, when he was stepping out of the elevator in the entrance hall to his apartment. According to local media reports, the lights in the entrance hall were not on when then the attacker fired approximately seven shots, four of which hit Huseynov. The electricity and telephone in Huseynov’s apartment were also reportedly cut at the time of the shooting.

“Elmar Huseynov was a very brave man who persisted in publishing his magazine despite constant harassment and threats,” said Rachel Denber, acting executive director of Human Rights Watch’s Europe and Central Asia division. “We extend our heartfelt condolences to his family, friends and colleagues.”

Monitor regularly published harsh criticism of the government, including allegations of corruption among high-level officials and their families. As a consequence, it faced constant harassment by the authorities.

Turan Information Agency, an independent Azerbaijani news service, reported that a gun with a silencer was found 150 meters away from Huseynov’s apartment block and that the General Procurator’s Office issued a statement, announcing that it had opened an investigation into the killing. According to Turan, the statement went on to say that the “General Prosecutor’s Office and Ministries of Internal Affairs and National Security state that Huseynov’s ÄsicÅ murder cannot be used for the political purposes and aggravation of political situation irregardless of its motives.”

“This looks like an organized murder that aimed to silence criticism by one magazine and scare off anyone else who was thinking of following in Huseynov’s footsteps,” said Denber. “The Azerbaijani authorities must ensure that the investigation will be thorough and impartial, and they must prosecute whoever is found responsible for the murder.”

“At the same time, Azerbaijan’s government needs to create an environment that is safe for all journalists and stop persecuting those who publish opinions that it doesn’t favor,” Denber said.

Denber makes a suggestion to the Azeri government that it needs to follow. It has no reason not to carry out this investigation to the fullest, and the only reason it wouldn’t would be because it is responsible. The opposition in Ukraine formed heavily around Gongadze’s murder due to the belief of government involvement, and because his case had not been investigated for obvious political purposes. President Aliyev seems to have learned the lesson of Ukraine, to an extent.

The United States is sending an FBI agent to Azerbaijan to help find those responsible for the killing of magazine editor Elmar Husseinov, whose work was critical of the Azeri government.

The U.S. Embassy said the agent is arriving in Baku Friday at the request of Azerbaijan’s government.

President Ilham Aliyev ordered a swift investigation, calling the attack a serious provocation against the state and authority.

This is, at least, a good sign. In a country like Azerbaijan, just about everyone has some kind of grief with government’s authoritarian rule. The platform of the opposition here will be broad on these grievances, such as its current inability to carry out the rule of law and protect citizens. If the government is found to have any involvement in this murder, it would further fuel the opposition. Now, not only can the government not protect its citizens, but it is targetting them as well! Not that this should come as a surprise; it would just be more in the open.

In fact, this doesn’t seem to be the first big case of this happening either, and journalists are going to be performing their own investigation into the murder.

Dismissing official rhetoric, many Azerbaijani journalists remain skeptical that the government will vigorously pursue the Huseynov murder case. In an interview with the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists, Baku Press Club Deputy Director Chingiz Sultansoy said that Huseynov had received several threats recently and feared for his safety. Expressing little confidence in official investigators, a group of journalists have announced plans to carry out their own murder investigation.

Clues to the culprit????????s identity appear sketchy, even though a pistol with a silencer, believed to be the murder weapon, was found near the crime scene. Neither Huseynov????????s family members, nor his neighbours reported hearing the shots, and no witness sightings have been made. The electricity and telephone service to Huseynov????????s apartment were cut off at approximately the same time as the shots were fired, estimated at 8:30pm on March 2. Calls from the journalist????????s cell phone were also reportedly blocked, thereby allegedly preventing his family from immediately summoning an ambulance.

Huseynov????????s murder is the latest in a string of violent attacks on Azerbaijani journalists over the past year by unknown assailants. Eynulla Fatullayev, the deputy editor of Monitor, was badly beaten last year, and the editor of another newspaper, Baki Habar, was kidnapped several months ago. In late February, Lider TV aired footage that showed the editor of the opposition newspaper Azadliq, Ganimat Zahidov, and a colleague nude in the accompaniment of two prostitutes. Zahidov claims that the photos were taken under threat of violence.

New opposition media outlets have also experienced numerous operational delays and difficulties. For example, the registration process for the television and radio station Yeni TV, envisioned as an alternative to Azerbaijan????????s planned public television system, has ground to a halt with no immediate resolution in sight. Government supporters, citing examples from Georgia and Ukraine, have stated that the station could be used to foster a popular uprising. In response to the delay, Yeni TV????????s founders are reportedly considering establishing operations outside of Azerbaijan as a satellite news channel.

I don’t consider any of that a coincidence — nor would I that all of them had “unknown” assailants who have never been found. Huseynov himself, previously, had suffered several lawsuits by the government against Monitor, and had been given a jail sentence of six months for “slandering” the mayor of Baku, but was released after two months.

It seems as if both the government and the opposition have agreed against politicizing the murder. This contradicts the reports from today’s rally at Husseinov’s funeral, attended by over 5000, so I’m inclined to believe that this is coming out of the government’s hands. They seem to be the only ones warning against demonstrations anyhow.

More than 5,000 people turned out for Elmar Huseynov’s funeral in Baku on 4 March. The opposition, which has openly pointed the finger at the government, attended in large numbers. At a ceremony in tribute to the murdered editor at the Baku Academy of Sciences, Ali Kerimli, leader of the opposition Popular Front said, “Everyone knows how difficult it is to tell the truth in this country. We give the authorities two weeks to find the killers.” European institutions have unanimously condemned the murder of the editor of the Monitor. Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Terry Davis, said in a 3 March statement, “I am shocked by the brutal murder of Elmar Husseynov, which has all the hallmarks of a contract killing and I condemn it in the strongest terms”. He appealed to the authorities in Azerbaijan to bring those responsible to justice. President Ilham Aliyev on 3 March denied any involvement by the authorities in the killing and condemned those “who set up this murder” who, he said were trying to “damage the image of Azerbaijan abroad.”

The demonstrations from the funeral are expected to overflow into next week, with the opposition calling for mass rallies at that time.

But the BBC’s Natalia Antelava in Baku says the gathering inside the big hall where the ceremony took place nevertheless resembled a political meeting.

Some 3,000 mourners joined the procession through the streets of Baku to the cemetery behind the coffin, which was unusually kept closed.

A number of government officials were present at the subsequent funeral meeting, but the crowd jeered one of them who tried to speak until he was forced to leave the room.

Police kept out of sight during the procession.

Our correspondent says people cheered as opposition leader Ali Kerimli addressed them.

Mr Kerimli told the crowds that the government should resign unless it can track down the killers within the next two weeks.

“The bullet was aimed at the people of Azerbaijan,” he said.

“Elmar is a victim of political terror. He became a victim of the truth. They wanted to silence him, but they cannot silence a people. Azerbaijan will be free.”

Mr Kerimli told the BBC that the opposition planned to hold mass rallies next week.

The US ambassador to Azerbaijan also addressed the crowd. He described Huseynov as a national hero.

“We hope that people can realise this loss to the nation … and find ways to protect journalists in Azerbaijan,” Reno Harnish said.

Sounds like the U.S. giving silent approval to me. Tim Russo, who worked in the area, is reporting on this, noting that the government officials don’t believe another democratic revolution can happen there and are actually suggesting that the opposition committed the murder! A commenter on his blog also points out the weakness of the opposition there. Definitely something to keep in mind. Even after the murder of Gongadze, it took several years for the opposition to finally get enough strength in Ukraine. Azerbaijan will be having parliamentary elections in November 2005, an event that will gauge democracy fever more than ever after the fraudulent election of their current president in 2003.