23:59, 3 March 2005

Azeri opposition journalist murdered

Elmar Huseynov, editor-in-chief of the opposition magazine Monitor, was murdered on the staircase of his house on 2 March at 9 pm local time. The murder was committed between the ground and the first floor, the staircase was covered with blood. Four shots were fired at Huseynov: one in the back, two in the heart, and one in the head. Local observes say there is every reason to believe the criminal was a hitman. They think what happened was politically motivated. Remarkably, electricity was cut off and the phone did not work at the time of the murder, the journalist's wife says.

The city police chief, Lieutenant-General Mageram Aliyev, thinks what happened was a provocation. He doest not rule out the murder may have been committed to discredit the president and state.