Məktəbə buraxılmayan hicablı şagirdlərlə müəllimləri bir araya gətirən “qoy məktəbə getsin” platformasının qurucusu İlkin Hüseynovdan xəbər yoxdur. Dostları deyir ünvanına saat naməlum şəxslər gəliblər. İlkinin saxlanıldığı ehtimal olunur.
The Day of The Modern Atlases
The day I was arrested, a fortune teller accused of fraud was placed in my cell for a few hours at the Khatai District Temporary Detention Center. Jokingly, I asked her, “So, what does my future hold?” She replied, “You’ll be imprisoned too, just like the other girls.” I smiled in response but said nothing. Because in Azerbaijan, you don’t need to be a fortune teller to predict the fate of an independent journalist.
Today, as Azerbaijan celebrates the 150th anniversary of National Press Day, 36 independent journalists remain behind bars, held on fabricated charges simply for carrying out their professional duties. Independent journalism in this country has always faced pressure, but the most ruthless wave of repression began after the adoption of the reactionary Media Law. Most of those currently imprisoned were the very ones who saw this danger coming and dared to speak out.
After the law was passed, the state began labeling journalists as smugglers and arresting them. Yet the real reason behind these detentions is clear to everyone. In the face of this crackdown, there were still those who courageously picked up their cameras and continued to report the truth. Each time we looked back, we saw our ranks thinning. Still, we felt a moral duty to keep speaking out, not just for ourselves but for our colleagues behind bars.
"No one can cage words". I had written that phrase on my hand during a protest against the Media Law. Eventually, my turn came. The same hand that bore those words was handcuffed.
It reached a point where there were no journalists left to report on my own trial, so I wrote the report myself and sent it to the media.
A disgraceful wave of repression is unfolding in the new chapter of independent journalism in Azerbaijan. But history has always shown that there are people who believe so deeply in something that they are ready to sacrifice everything for it, who carry the burden of truth on their shoulders and become modern-day Atlases.
Though we are now kept in separate cells, I send my deepest congratulations and solidarity to all my colleagues who continue to stand with pride and dignity on the right side of history, fearlessly and tirelessly.