Azernews.Az

A US press freedom organization has severely criticized the purported abuse of the head of the Institute for Reporters' Freedom and Safety (IRFS) in Azerbaijan while in detention.
"The Committee to Protect Journalists is outraged by the police beating of Emin Huseynov on June 14," the group said.
Huseynov was covering an event for the 80th birthday of slain Argentine revolutionary Che Guevara. CPJ claimed that policed raided the event and took Huseynov to a police station where he was isolated, interrogated, threatened, and beaten. He was hospitalized after losing consciousness from having been repeatedly hit in the head with fists and guns, and remains in the critical care unit of the Emergency Medical Service Hospital in Baku, he told CPJ.
"We are appalled by this brazen attack on our colleague Emin Huseynov," CPJ Europe and Central Asia Program Coordinator Nina Ognianova said. "We call on the highest authorities in Azerbaijan to investigate this incident and bring those responsible to justice."
About 25 people had organized a documentary screening and a talk to celebrate Che at Alaturka cafe in Baku. Several journalists, including Huseynov, were covering the event, IRFS Public Relations Coordinator Sarah Paulsworth told CPJ. About 30 police officers raided the cafe at midday and detained about 20 people, including Huseynov and two other IRFS representatives, Huseynov told CPJ by telephone from his hospital bed. All were taken to Police Department No. 22 in the Nasimi district of Baku, CPJ quoted Huseynov and local news reports as saying.
But the Interior Ministry spokesman Ehsan Zahidov said Huseynov was not pressured by the police.
"The statements he made for the press to that end are far from reality. His views published by various media are contradictory as well," he said.
Zahidov said the incident has been investigated. The law enforcers ascertained that a group of people was holding an unsanctioned event at the mentioned cafe, and the police therefore demanded to stop it.
"20 people were then taken to a police precinct to be identified and provide explanations. All of them were released after providing explanations. After that, Huseynov complained he was feeling unwell. An ambulance was immediately brought in, and a subsequent medical examination showed that his condition was due to a previous illness. The check-up revealed that Huseynov's blood pressure surged to 190, which caused him to lose consciousness."
CPJ is a New York-based, independent, nonprofit organization that works to safeguard press freedom worldwide.