The OSCE representative on freedom of the media has called on authorities in Azerbaijan to stop their crackdown on independent media and rights activists.
Dunja Mijatovic said in a November 10 statement, "Practically all independent media representatives and media NGOs have been purposefully persecuted under various, often unfounded and disturbing charges."
Mijatovic raised the case of Azerbaijani blogger Mehman Huseynov, who was detained at the Baku airport earlier in the day and denied permission to leave his country to attend an international media conference sponsored by the OSCE in Tbilisi, Georgia.
Mijatovic had invited Huseynov to the conference.
Mijatovic also noted that Khadija Ismailova, a journalist for RFE/RL's Azerbaijani Service, could not attend the conference due to travel restrictions imposed on her.
The OSCE media freedom representative said, "I repeat my call on the authorities in Azerbaijan to end this hostile attitude against free media."