Journalists blame Azerbaijani authorities for Khafizli’s murder

Azerbaijani LGBT activist and journalist Avaz Khafizli repeatedly complained to the law enforcement bodies about receiving threats and held protests, but the authorities took no action, the Institute for Reporters’ Freedom and Safety reports today.

The “Caucasian Knot” has reported that Azerbaijani freelance journalist Avaz Shikhmamedov, also known as Avaz Khafizli, was killed on February 22, and his cousin was suspected of the crime. Avaz Khafizli spoke out in defence of the rights of sexual minorities, which caused discontent in his family, colleagues of the murdered man note.

The Azerbaijani authorities are responsible “for the deliberate inaction that led to the brutal murder of journalist and LGBT activist 24-year-old Avaz Shikhmamedov (who posted the information under the pseudonym of Avaz Khafizli),” the Institute for Reporters’ Freedom and Safety (IRFS) announces today.

The IRFS has requested the Azerbaijani authorities to conduct “a transparent investigation with the identification and punishment of all those responsible for the actual execution of the journalist.” “The collected materials give grounds to believe that the Azerbaijani authorities are responsible for the journalist’s murder,” emphasized Emin Guseinov, the director of the IRFS.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on March 2, 2022 at 02:14 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.