On 16 November, independent journalist Ganimat Zahid published details of a plan to “neutralize” the founders of Meydan TV, as well as Zahid himself. Zahid alleges that, according to his sources, the Azerbaijani government plans to carry out an operation against the three “inconvenient emigres” with the help of international criminal groups.
In an article at
Azadliq.info
, emigre journalist and former political prisoner Ganimat Zahid revealed details of an apparent murder plot against three emigre Azerbaijani journalists, including himself. Zahid says that he first received word of the threat in May or June from an unnamed source, and since then the journalist has learned more of the details, most recently on 15 November.
“The essence of the matter is that the government of Azerbaijan believes it has successfully completed preparations and is close to carrying out the operation,” wrote the emigre journalist, who has resided in France since 2011. “According to the details I was given, an Azerbaijani criminal boss has agreed to take measures against three ‘inconvenient emigres’ living in Europe. This actually confirms and adds to the information I have been receiving since June. The criminal boss, whom I don’t want to name (but I would point out that the names are known to us), has agreed to carry out an operation to neutralize the leading figures at Meydan TV, Emin Milli and Habib Muntezir, who live in Germany, and myself in France.”
The operation, allegedly instigated by the Azerbaijani government, will utilize, according to Zahid, Turkish and Russian criminal networks which stretch into Western Europe. “I stress again that this information is quite definite and was received from serious sources,” he added.
The article ends with an appeal to Zahid’s fellow journalists to seek protection: “Finally I warn my colleagues Emin Milli and Habib Muntezir: you must inform your local law enforcement agencies about this planned operation. Regardless of who carries it out, the government of Azerbaijan is behind this planned act of terror.”
Milli and Muntezir say that a separate source within the Azerbaijani government has confirmed Zahid’s allegations. They say they will inform the appropriate law enforcement agencies.
This isn’t the first time Meydan TV’s founders have received death threats. In 2015, Emin Milli
announced
that he received threats to his life from within the Azerbaijani government related to his criticism. When the EU Parliament confronted President Ilham Aliyev with the allegation in a
2015 resolution
, the president
denied
the incident.
“There are several issues here which are based, whether intentionally or by mistake, on incorrect information,” President Aliyev said. “One of them is related to the fact that journalists and civil society representatives are subjected to constant threats and harassment. Of these, the director of Meydan TV, Emin Milli, received death threats. This is a mistake and a lie. He was never threatened with death. I do not know why this is written here. Perhaps this is a part of another anti-Azerbaijan campaign.”
In February of this year, Milli
announced
in the EU Parliament that he had received another death threat. “According to our information,” Milli said, “Azerbaijan’s intelligence services sent a group of athletes to Germany to attack me personally. One of the sources is the person who told us a few years ago that the diplomat and spy Tural Gurbanov had been sent to Germany to kill Habib Muntezir. Last time that plan resulted in the death of [Gurbanov].”
Habib Muntezir says his life has been threatened several times. In 2013, he received information that the diplomat Tural Gurbanov was actually an Azerbaijani intelligence agent who had been sent to Germany to arrange Muntezir’s murder. Shortly after Milli published the allegations on Facebook, Gurbanov was
found dead
in the Maldives under suspicious circumstances.
Emin Milli is a former political prisoner, who
served
17 months in prison for his criticism of the Azerbaijani government. Habib Muntezir has been a well-known political activist and blogger
since 2005
. In 2013, the two activists created Meydan TV, an independent Azerbaijani media outlet based in Berlin. Since its inception, Meydan TV has faced constant pressure from the state and an ongoing
criminal investigation
for refusing to censor critical views of the government.
Ganimat Zahid is a journalist and former
political prisoner
who served two and a half years in prison on trumped up charges of hooliganism. A resident of France since 2011, Zahid is the editor-in-chief of the independent
Azadliq
newspaper as well as the founder of
Turan TV
.
Both
azadliq.info
and
meydan.tv
are blocked within Azerbaijan.
