Honorary consul: Azerbaijan Foreign Ministry’s intrusion into Italian journalists’ private life supposes criminal and civil responsibility

The dictator Ilham Aliyev exiles everyone voicing human rights violations in Azerbaijan, writes Epifanio Troina, the honorary consul of Abkhazia in San Marino, in a complaint published on the website Libertas.sm.

He condemns a publication posted on the websites of the Azerbaijani embassies in Italy, San Marino and Malta, which names Italian citizens, including 10 well-known journalists, who are declared ‘personae non-grata’ for visiting Nagorno Karabakh Republic for professional reasons. According to Troina, such a practice of discrimination is typical of authoritarian regimes.

“The publication of the list is a striking violation of the principles of democracy and freedom of expression guaranteed internationally,” Epifanio Troina writes. He also writes about joining to the Assadakah Italia federation to appeal to the OSCE requesting to condemn the publication of the list, which also contains some personal information about the people it includes. It is considered an intrusion into the private life of people and supposes criminal and civil responsibility.

Earlier, the embassy of the Azerbaijan Republic in Italy published a list of journalists whose entry to Azerbaijan is banned. The list reportedly included Italian citizens considered ‘persona non-grata’ by the Foreign Ministry of Azerbaijan and thus forbidden to visit the country. The ‘black list’ features prominent representatives of Italian culture, journalists, writers and painters, including Antonia Arslan and Milena Gabanelli, a well-known journalist. Simone Zoppellaro, the correspondent of Osservatorio Balcani e Caucaso, is also included together with the colleague of the Italian newspaper La Stampa, Roberto Travan.

Back in 2013, the Foreign Ministry of Azerbaijan published a list of people who had become persona non grata in Azerbaijan for visiting Nagorno Karabakh Republic, and thus are barred from entry to the country. According to media reports, the number of the names included in the list is above 500, which, however, does not stop the world celebrities. ames included in the list is above 500, which, however, does not stop the world celebrities.