大象传媒

大象传媒 World Service
Last updated:聽8 september, 2009 - 12:42 GMT

Donkey Bloggers


Two bloggers in the former Soviet republic of Azerbaijan are facing up to 5 years in jail after posting a satirical video on the web.

The video is of a donkey giving a press conference.

Human rights groups say it's a blatant attempt by the authorities to put a gag on new media.

Adnan Hajizade and Emin Milli were arrested after a scuffle in a restaurant and are currently awaiting trial next week.

They say they were attacked and arrested because of their online criticism of the government.

The Azerbaijani authorities insist it's a straightforward criminal case of what they called 'hooliganism' in a restaurant.

But concern about the arrests has been raised by the European Union, the Swedish Parliament and a number of human rights groups.

Matthew Bannister spoke to Adnan's father, Hikmet Hajizade, in Baku about the donkey press conference that appears to have started the trouble.

From YouTube, the Donkey video...