Baku commemorates the editor of the oppositional Monitor magazine

Journalists and activists have gathered at the grave to commemorate Elmar Huseynov, the editor-in-chief of the oppositional ‘Monitor’ magazine, who was murdered 12 years ago.

“Elmar’s murder was a milestone event, since it paved the way to reprisals against the independent media and led to its factual elimination. Many media outlets were closed or subjected to the government’s control, having been turned into the medium of mass propaganda. Journalism lost its public significance and became an accomplice to the policy that plunged the country into a deep systemic crisis,” contact.az agency publication reads.

The Monitor was a radically oppositional periodical. According to some readers, the magazine and its authors didn’t always observe journalistic ethics, sometimes publishing not fully verified information. Nevertheless, the magazine enjoyed great popularity due to its rather bold articles.

Elmar Huseynov was continuously subjected to pressure, was facing criminal charges and served a term of imprisonment. He was imposed judicial sanctions and intimidated.

• Elmar Huseynov was shot dead on the doorstep of his apartment late on March 2, 2005. 
• Shortly after his death, Azerbaijani President, IlhamAliyev promised that the crime would be solved soon. Two ethnic Azerbaijanis, the citizens of Georgia, were named among the suspects. As for the murder paymaster, there has been no information about him up to now. 
• Here you can find the archive of the Monitor magazine’s articles of the recent years (in Russian).