Press freedom groups slams Azerbaijan blogger jail terms

Press freedom group Reporters Without Borders on Thursday slammed the "outrageous" jail sentences handed to two Azerbaijani bloggers who posted a satirical web video of a donkey giving a press briefing.

"The trial was orchestrated solely to censor and punish two politically committed bloggers who dared to criticize the authorities," the Paris-based group said in a statement. "Azerbaijani authorities are clearly trying to prevent the Internet from becoming a powerful opposition tool in the run-up to next year's parliamentary elections," it said, noting the bloggers faced "clearly trumped-up charges." "This trial has been a sham from beginning to end and has concluded with outrageous and unjust sentences," said Reporters Without Borders.

Adnan Hajizade, 26, and Emin Milli, 30, were on Wednesday found guilty of hooliganism over a scuffle at a restaurant in the Azerbaijani capital Baku, their lawyer said. Hajizade was jailed for two years and Milli two and a half years. They were arrested shortly after posting the donkey video, which lampooned Azerbaijan's docile press and statements by government officials.

The bloggers, who had been in jail since their arrests in July, say they were targeted for political reasons because of their online criticism of authorities in the oil-rich ex-Soviet republic. Authorities Azerbaijan, a mainly Muslim republic on the Caspian Sea, have said the charges are unrelated to the bloggers' criticism of the government.

European security watchdog the OSCE said the jail terms confirmed the country's status as "the pre-eminent jailer of journalists" in the OSCE region.