Azerbaijani security agents seize computer drives from opposition newspaper; US complains

The raid on the Real Azerbaijan and Everyday Azerbaijan, and editor and founder Eynulla Fatullayev, prompted the U.S. Embassy in Baku to condemn the move, saying it "continues a trend that runs counter to Azerbaijan's stated commitment to media freedom."

"We strongly urge the Azerbaijani government to take immediate steps to allow (the papers) to resume their operations and promote the necessary conditions for all independent media to fulfill their essential role in the democratic process," the Embassy said in a statement.

The building where the newspapers' officers are located has been sealed off since Sunday evening when emergency workers blocked off the building, saying it was in bad condition.

On Tuesday, a top security official said Fatullayev, who had been sentenced to prison last month after a being convicted of libel, faced a new charge of making a terrorist threat. Prosecutors have released no details about the alleged threat.

Defense lawyer Isakhan Asurov told The Associated Press that security agents had confiscated 20 computer processors from the paper's editorial offices, and business cards, computer discs, videocassettes and a gun from Fatullayev's apartment.

The newspapers' acting editor, Singiz Sultansoi, said the investigations had effectively shut down the papers and he suspected more employees could face charges.

"We have lost all possibility for publishing any editions. We have no office, no technical equipment," he said.

The weekly Russian-language Real Azerbaijan has a print run of 25,000, while the Azeri-language daily Everyday Azerbaijan has a circulation of about 10,000.

Opposition parties condemned the investigation and the new charges, saying they demonstrated the "single-minded policies of the authorities regarding the independent media."

But aides to President Ilham Aliyev accused the opposition of politicizing the investigation, and pointed out that several other organizations were also affected by the building's closure.

"Certain forces are politicizing this, using this for their own purpose, not for the development of democracy in the country, but for their own corporate interests," Aliyev's chief-of-staff, Ramiz Mehtiev, told reporters.

The government of Aliyev, who took over from his father in a 2003 election denounced by opponents as a sham, has faced persistent criticism over the heavy-handed treatment of independent media. The Associated Press

/The International Herald Tribune/