Hooliganism or Freedom of Speech? The case of two bloggers detained in Azerbaijan

On July 8, 2009, two bloggers and political activists, Andnan Hajizade and Emin Milli, were arrested in Azerbaijan on charges of "hooliganism". The bloggers were detained shortly after posting a video on YouTube mocking the Azeri government's purchase of donkeys from Germany. After nine trials, the two bloggers (both without prior criminal records) remain imprisoned. The four presenters will form a panel discussion to speak about this particular case of the bloggers and what it means for freedom of speech in Azerbaijan as well as the greater Caucus region. The Youtube video made by the Azeri bloggers will be played during the presentation and a question and answer session will follow the panel discussion.

Participants:

• Parvana Persiyan (MA candidate, CEU Department of Public Policy
• Professor Michael Hamilton (Department of Legal Studies)
• Professor Benjamin Cramer(Department of Public Policy)
• Vladimir Shkolnikov (Former head of the OSCE/ODIHR Democratization Department)