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Three well-known Azeri journalists, Mehman Aliyev, Emin Husseinov and Rasul Jafarov, have complained to the European Court of Human Rights that the National Television and Radio Council’s decision to deny them a broadcasting licence violates their right to freedom of expression as well as the public's right to a pluralistic and independent media.

At the end of 2010, the three tendered for the 103.3 FM radio frequency, proposing to broadcast a mix of news, current affairs and entertainment. Two separate bids were put in: Aliyev and Husseinov joined forces under the name Objective Radio, while Jafarov proposed to broadcast under the name Alternative Radio. The only other candidate in the competition was an unknown newcomer called Golden Prince.

In January 2011, the licence was awarded to Golden Prince. The National Television and Radio Council, which decides on licence applications, initially gave no reason for favouring this entrant over the others, and when Aliyev, Husseinov and Jafarov asked the Council to explain its thinking it failed to do so. They jointly challenged the decision in the courts but it was upheld. In the course of the litigation, they did manage to obtain details about Golden Prince’s ownership, pointing to links with the Government. When the Supreme Court rejected their appeal, Aliyev, Husseinov and Jafarov decided to submit a claim to the European Court for Human Rights.

The claimants argue that not only did the refusal to grant a licence deny them their right to freedom of expression, but that the public in Azerbaijan is being denied their right to a pluralistic media. Under the European Convention on Human Rights, Azerbaijan, like other countries who have signed up to the Convention, is obliged to ensure a pluralistic media landscape. By failing to ensure this, the public is denied its right to a media which represents different points of view – and in the absence of that, applicants argue, democracy itself cannot function.

As reports by the UN, the Council of Europe and various NGOs have concluded, most media outlets in Azerbaijan are either owned by the government or have strong links to it, and political debate is restricted. This is particularly so at times of elections; the OSCE reported that during the November 2010 elections, opposition voices were hardly heard in the media.

With presidential elections due in 2013, Aliyev, Husseinov and Jafarov are asking the European Court to consider the case urgently, in the hope that a favourable outcome would pressure the government into introducing much needed reforms.

The journalists are represented before the Court by MLDI partner Rashid Hajili, of the Media Rights Institute of Azerbaijan.