PREVIEW: Azerbaijan to vote on parliament amid repression charges

By Yigal Schleifer Nov 5, 2010, 14:25 GMT

Istanbul - Oil and gas-rich Azerbaijan will hold parliamentary elections on Sunday, amid charges by both local and international observers that the government is increasingly cracking down on its political opposition and dissenting voices in the media.

In a recent report, Human Rights Watch accused the Azerbaijani government of harassing members of the country's small opposition press.

'There's been just a steady deterioration in media freedoms, a steady closing of the space,' said Rachel Denber, deputy director of the Europe and Central Asia division at HRW. 'Journalists see their colleagues getting thrown in prison and it has a chilling effect.'

The ruling New Azerbaijan Party of President Ilham Aliyev is expected to be reelected on Sunday.

Aliyev became president in 2003, succeeding his father Geidar, a former official with the Russian secret service who went on to dominate political life in Azerbaijan after the fall of the Soviet Union.

Foreign observers have voiced increasing criticism of recent elections in Azerbaijan, whose energy resources could play a crucial role in Europe's effort to diversify its oil and gas supply.

Several Azerbaijani journalists and bloggers who have criticized the Aliyev government have been imprisoned in recent years.

'In Azerbaijan, those who attack or harass journalists do so in the knowledge that they will not be punished for their crimes,' said Agnes Callamard, executive director of ARTICLE 19, one of nine rights groups that recently issued their own report on the lack of press freedom in Azerbaijan.

'The fact that the authorities fail to conduct effective investigations into these crimes contributes significantly to the current climate of fear and vulnerability,' she added.

In the run-up to the election, the government has banned the main opposition Popular Front-Musavat bloc from holding any public rallies. It has also limited the bloc's ability to claim a majority in parliament by only allowing it to contest some 40 out of the 125 seats in the body.

Aliyev has presided over a resources-fueled economic boom in his country. Opposition leaders have accused the United States and the Europeans of muting their criticism of the Aliyev government because of Azerbaijan's importance as an energy supplier.