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Donkey bloggers face 5 years jail

by on02 September 2009

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Azerbaijani government not amused


Two Azerbaijani
bloggers face up to five years jail after they posted a video of a donkey giving a press conference.

Apparently the government of Azerbaijan was not amused by the video which was made by Adnan Hajizade, 26, and Emin Milli, 29. The video looks a bit like an Apple press conference, only the journalists are nodding gravely rather than worshiping the person conducting the press conference.

In this case it is bloke dressed up as a donkey who extols the virtues of life in Azerbaijan and praises the government for its fair treatment of the four-legged beasts. All seems harmless but apparently Azerbaijan police have arrested the pair and locked them up pending a September trial.

Authorities claim there is no political motive behind the arrests because the pair were arrested after a fight in a night club. A lawyer for the men said the pair were arrested when they went to a police station to file a complaint about a bloke who attacked them. However supporters claim that it is the beginning of a crackdown on new media and an effort to stamp out online dissent.

Hajizade, is the co-founder of the OL (To Be) youth movement and Milli, a co-founder of online television channel AN Network. They are both Western-educated children of opposition activists. They are pretty much at the centre of a vibrant online community in Azerbaijan. The oil rich country has never really lost its love of post communist control.
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