{"id":190308,"date":"2018-06-04T17:24:00","date_gmt":"2018-06-04T17:24:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.meydan.tv\/article\/azerbaijan-court-rejects-rferls-appeal-against-website-blockage\/"},"modified":"2021-10-29T14:41:09","modified_gmt":"2021-10-29T10:41:09","slug":"azerbaijan-court-rejects-rferls-appeal-against-website-blockage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.meydan.tv\/en\/article\/azerbaijan-court-rejects-rferls-appeal-against-website-blockage\/","title":{"rendered":"Azerbaijan court rejects RFE\/RL&#8217;s appeal against website blockage"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\n  <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.meydan.tv\/az\/104733\/\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-104733\"\/><figcaption><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\n  <i><br \/>\n    Originally published by<br \/>\n    <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rferl.org\/a\/azerbaijan-court-hears-appeal-rferl-azadliq-site\/29269479.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><br \/>\n      RFE\/RL<br \/>\n    <\/a><br \/>\n  <\/i>\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  A court in Baku has rejected an appeal by RFE\/RL&#8217;s Azerbaijani Service against the blockage of its website,<br \/>\n  <a href=\"https:\/\/www.azadliq.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><br \/>\n    azadliq.org<br \/>\n  <\/a><br \/>\n  , backing a move that has been condemned by rights groups and Western governments.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  The Baku Cassation Court ruled on June 4 that the Communications and High Technologies Ministry&#8217;s decision to cut off access to the site was correct and therefore should not be changed.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  Azadliq.org has been blocked in Azerbaijan since March 2017 at the instruction of the Prosecutor-General&#8217;s Office, which has claimed that the website posed a &#8220;threat&#8221; to the Caspian Sea country&#8217;s national security.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  RFE\/RL President Thomas Kent said on May 12 that blockage of the site was \u201cpart of a deliberate campaign\u201d aimed at silencing its reporting in the tightly controlled country, whose long-ruling president tolerates little dissent.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  After hearings in a lawsuit filed by RFE\/RL against the move began on April 27, a court ruled on May 12 that the Communications Ministry&#8217;s request for the blockage must be followed. The new ruling came in an appeal against that decision.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  The ruling also affected opposition newspaper Azadliq and Meydan TV, as well as two other Internet TV programs.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  The ministry has accused azadliq.org and the other outlets of &#8220;posting content deemed to promote violence, hatred, or extremism, violating privacy, or constituting slander,&#8221; but did not produce any examples to back up its accusations.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  The only remaining legal recourse for the media outlets now is to take their case to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR).\n<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\n  <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.meydan.tv\/az\/the-website-of-rfe-rls-azerbaijani-service-has-been-blocked-since-march-2017\/\" alt=\"The website of RFE\/RL&#8217;s Azerbaijani Service has been blocked since March 2017\" class=\"wp-image-104736\"\/><figcaption>\n    The website of RFE\/RL&#8217;s Azerbaijani Service has been blocked since March 2017<br \/>\n  <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\n  The decision to block the media outlets has been condemned by the European Union. The move was &#8220;not in keeping with the need for free, diverse, and independent media in modern and democratic societies,&#8221; Maja Kocijancic, the spokeswoman for European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini, said in a statement on May 14.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  The U.S.-based democracy monitor Freedom House also criticized the court&#8217;s decision.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  &#8220;By banning independent media websites, the Azerbaijani government has disproved President Ilham Aliyev&#8217;s most frequently used argument that Azerbaijan enjoys freedom on the Internet,&#8221; said Robert Herman, vice president for international programs at Freedom House, in a May 12 statement.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  Azadliq.org has been targeted by Azerbaijani authorities after RFE\/RL published investigative reports about financial dealings involving members of Aliyev&#8217;s family and his inner circle.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  The reports were the result of cooperation between RFE\/RL and the Sarajevo-based Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP).\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  Aliyev, 56, has ruled the oil-producing former Soviet republic with an iron hand since shortly before the death of his father, Heidar Aliyev, died in 2003 after a decade in power.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  He has repeatedly rejected criticism from rights groups and Western governments that accuse him of jailing his opponents on trumped-up accusations and abusing power to stifle dissent.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Azadliq.org, along with meydan.tv and several other sites, has been blocked in Azerbaijan for over a year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":104733,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_sitemap_exclude":false,"_sitemap_priority":"","_sitemap_frequency":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-190308","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","infinite-scroll-item","generate-columns","tablet-grid-50","mobile-grid-100","grid-parent","grid-33","no-featured-image-padding"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Azerbaijan court rejects RFE\/RL&#039;s appeal against website blockage - MEYDAN.TV<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.meydan.tv\/en\/article\/azerbaijan-court-rejects-rferls-appeal-against-website-blockage\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Azerbaijan court rejects RFE\/RL&#039;s appeal against website blockage - MEYDAN.TV\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Azadliq.org, along with meydan.tv and several other sites, has been blocked in Azerbaijan for over a year.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.meydan.tv\/en\/article\/azerbaijan-court-rejects-rferls-appeal-against-website-blockage\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"MEYDAN.TV\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-06-04T17:24:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-10-29T10:41:09+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.meydan.tv\/wp-content\/uploads\/41545.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"647\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"370\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"user-manager\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.meydan.tv\\\/en\\\/article\\\/azerbaijan-court-rejects-rferls-appeal-against-website-blockage\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.meydan.tv\\\/en\\\/article\\\/azerbaijan-court-rejects-rferls-appeal-against-website-blockage\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"user-manager\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.meydan.tv\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/10d11eccf6da3662cf5fdab9806ea91a\"},\"headline\":\"Azerbaijan court rejects RFE\\\/RL&#8217;s appeal against website blockage\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-06-04T17:24:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-10-29T10:41:09+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.meydan.tv\\\/en\\\/article\\\/azerbaijan-court-rejects-rferls-appeal-against-website-blockage\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":491,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.meydan.tv\\\/en\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.meydan.tv\\\/en\\\/article\\\/azerbaijan-court-rejects-rferls-appeal-against-website-blockage\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.meydan.tv\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/41545.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.meydan.tv\\\/en\\\/article\\\/azerbaijan-court-rejects-rferls-appeal-against-website-blockage\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.meydan.tv\\\/en\\\/article\\\/azerbaijan-court-rejects-rferls-appeal-against-website-blockage\\\/\",\"name\":\"Azerbaijan court rejects RFE\\\/RL's appeal against website blockage - MEYDAN.TV\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.meydan.tv\\\/en\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.meydan.tv\\\/en\\\/article\\\/azerbaijan-court-rejects-rferls-appeal-against-website-blockage\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.meydan.tv\\\/en\\\/article\\\/azerbaijan-court-rejects-rferls-appeal-against-website-blockage\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.meydan.tv\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/41545.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-06-04T17:24:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-10-29T10:41:09+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.meydan.tv\\\/en\\\/article\\\/azerbaijan-court-rejects-rferls-appeal-against-website-blockage\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.meydan.tv\\\/en\\\/article\\\/azerbaijan-court-rejects-rferls-appeal-against-website-blockage\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.meydan.tv\\\/en\\\/article\\\/azerbaijan-court-rejects-rferls-appeal-against-website-blockage\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.meydan.tv\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/41545.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.meydan.tv\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/41545.jpg\",\"width\":647,\"height\":370},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.meydan.tv\\\/en\\\/article\\\/azerbaijan-court-rejects-rferls-appeal-against-website-blockage\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"\u0413\u043b\u0430\u0432\u043d\u0430\u044f\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.meydan.tv\\\/en\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"News\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.meydan.tv\\\/en\\\/section\\\/news\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Azerbaijan court rejects RFE\\\/RL&#8217;s appeal against website blockage\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.meydan.tv\\\/en\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.meydan.tv\\\/en\\\/\",\"name\":\"MEYDAN.TV\",\"description\":\"Meydan TV Az\u0259rbaycan\u0131n media m\u0259kan\u0131ndak\u0131 alternativ s\u0259sidir\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.meydan.tv\\\/en\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.meydan.tv\\\/en\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.meydan.tv\\\/en\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Meydan TV\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.meydan.tv\\\/en\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.meydan.tv\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.meydan.tv\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2021\\\/07\\\/meydan-logo.svg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.meydan.tv\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2021\\\/07\\\/meydan-logo.svg\",\"width\":195,\"height\":46,\"caption\":\"Meydan TV\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.meydan.tv\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.meydan.tv\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/10d11eccf6da3662cf5fdab9806ea91a\",\"name\":\"user-manager\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Azerbaijan court rejects RFE\/RL's appeal against website blockage - MEYDAN.TV","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.meydan.tv\/en\/article\/azerbaijan-court-rejects-rferls-appeal-against-website-blockage\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Azerbaijan court rejects RFE\/RL's appeal against website blockage - MEYDAN.TV","og_description":"Azadliq.org, along with meydan.tv and several other sites, has been blocked in Azerbaijan for over a year.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.meydan.tv\/en\/article\/azerbaijan-court-rejects-rferls-appeal-against-website-blockage\/","og_site_name":"MEYDAN.TV","article_published_time":"2018-06-04T17:24:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2021-10-29T10:41:09+00:00","og_image":[{"width":647,"height":370,"url":"https:\/\/www.meydan.tv\/wp-content\/uploads\/41545.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"user-manager","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.meydan.tv\/en\/article\/azerbaijan-court-rejects-rferls-appeal-against-website-blockage\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.meydan.tv\/en\/article\/azerbaijan-court-rejects-rferls-appeal-against-website-blockage\/"},"author":{"name":"user-manager","@id":"https:\/\/www.meydan.tv\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/10d11eccf6da3662cf5fdab9806ea91a"},"headline":"Azerbaijan court rejects RFE\/RL&#8217;s appeal against website blockage","datePublished":"2018-06-04T17:24:00+00:00","dateModified":"2021-10-29T10:41:09+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.meydan.tv\/en\/article\/azerbaijan-court-rejects-rferls-appeal-against-website-blockage\/"},"wordCount":491,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.meydan.tv\/en\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.meydan.tv\/en\/article\/azerbaijan-court-rejects-rferls-appeal-against-website-blockage\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.meydan.tv\/wp-content\/uploads\/41545.jpg","articleSection":["News"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.meydan.tv\/en\/article\/azerbaijan-court-rejects-rferls-appeal-against-website-blockage\/","url":"https:\/\/www.meydan.tv\/en\/article\/azerbaijan-court-rejects-rferls-appeal-against-website-blockage\/","name":"Azerbaijan court rejects RFE\/RL's appeal against website blockage - MEYDAN.TV","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.meydan.tv\/en\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.meydan.tv\/en\/article\/azerbaijan-court-rejects-rferls-appeal-against-website-blockage\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.meydan.tv\/en\/article\/azerbaijan-court-rejects-rferls-appeal-against-website-blockage\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.meydan.tv\/wp-content\/uploads\/41545.jpg","datePublished":"2018-06-04T17:24:00+00:00","dateModified":"2021-10-29T10:41:09+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.meydan.tv\/en\/article\/azerbaijan-court-rejects-rferls-appeal-against-website-blockage\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.meydan.tv\/en\/article\/azerbaijan-court-rejects-rferls-appeal-against-website-blockage\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.meydan.tv\/en\/article\/azerbaijan-court-rejects-rferls-appeal-against-website-blockage\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.meydan.tv\/wp-content\/uploads\/41545.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.meydan.tv\/wp-content\/uploads\/41545.jpg","width":647,"height":370},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.meydan.tv\/en\/article\/azerbaijan-court-rejects-rferls-appeal-against-website-blockage\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"\u0413\u043b\u0430\u0432\u043d\u0430\u044f","item":"https:\/\/www.meydan.tv\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"News","item":"https:\/\/www.meydan.tv\/en\/section\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Azerbaijan court rejects RFE\/RL&#8217;s appeal against website blockage"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.meydan.tv\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.meydan.tv\/en\/","name":"MEYDAN.TV","description":"Meydan TV Az\u0259rbaycan\u0131n media m\u0259kan\u0131ndak\u0131 alternativ s\u0259sidir","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.meydan.tv\/en\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.meydan.tv\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.meydan.tv\/en\/#organization","name":"Meydan TV","url":"https:\/\/www.meydan.tv\/en\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.meydan.tv\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.meydan.tv\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/meydan-logo.svg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.meydan.tv\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/meydan-logo.svg","width":195,"height":46,"caption":"Meydan TV"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.meydan.tv\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.meydan.tv\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/10d11eccf6da3662cf5fdab9806ea91a","name":"user-manager"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.meydan.tv\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/190308","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.meydan.tv\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.meydan.tv\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.meydan.tv\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.meydan.tv\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=190308"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.meydan.tv\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/190308\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":215727,"href":"https:\/\/www.meydan.tv\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/190308\/revisions\/215727"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.meydan.tv\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/104733"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.meydan.tv\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=190308"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.meydan.tv\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=190308"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.meydan.tv\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=190308"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}