Azerbaijani Press Council chief discloses number of not functioning newspapers

"There are over 2,000 newspapers in Azerbaijan. Most of them are engaged in racketeering. Our main goal is to adjust the relationship between press and public," Chairman of the Press Council Aflatun Amashov said.

More than 3,300 media outlets have been registered in Azerbaijan. Currently only 600 of them are operating. Nearly 400 newspapers and magazines are published. There are more than 20 television channels. There are about 50 electronic media outlets and 20 news agencies.

Amashov said the majority of complaints, received by the council, is related to newspapers, which do not function for a long time.

"These newspapers were registered 7-8 years ago. There are countless people who call themselves journalists, who are engaged in racketeering, having the identity of newspapers that are not published at present. Registration of these newspapers, threatening, slandering people, demanding money via blackmail, must be cancelled," he said.

Amashov said although this action does not constitute a crime, the council is obliged to investigate such incidents and report to relevant bodies.

"The main purpose of our monitoring is to identify such newspapers. It was revealed that the newspapers that were registered 9-10 years ago not only is issued once a month, but even once a year. However, a group of journalists as employees of these newspapers are engaged in racketeering," he said.

The chairman of the council said the monitoring results have been submitted to Ministry of Justice. "Of course, neither the Press Council nor even the Ministry has the authority to decide upon the closure of these publications. However, the chaos could be prevented by the courts. After full specifying a list of these newspapers, we will appeal to the appropriate courts," said Amashov.

/Trend News/