“I Will Continue Writing from Prison”

Nurlan Libre

Nurlan Libre, arrested in the “Meydan TV case,” writes from the pre-trial detention center:

Although 8 months have passed since my arrest, I still clearly remember how I was detained. It was the morning. I was leaving my friend's house in Narimanov. I already knew I was going to be arrested that day. My plan for that day was to hand over the final reportage I had prepared to Meydan TV and spend my last hours of freedom with the people I loved. I thought the police were waiting for me in my neighborhood, in Sumgayit. That's exactly why I had been wandering around the regions, preparing reportage for a week. Unfortunately, the police were actually waiting for me right in the neighborhood (in Narimanov).

Three masked police officers attacked me and handcuffed me on the spot. They took the camera from my hand. At that moment, I knew I would face a long-term prison sentence. But I wasn't afraid of it. My only thought was that the reportage I had worked hard to prepare for days would fall into the hands of the police. To this day, I regret that I couldn't deliver my reportage to the editorial office. From the very first moment of my arrest until now, I have never regretted cooperating with Meydan TV and being punished for it. The words "Meydan TV", "journalist", "control" are written on my prison card. Every time I read these words, I feel proud of myself again, that I am in prison for delivering the truth to the people.

In prison, a person has a lot of time to think. Who am I, what am I doing here, does the struggle I waged for a free press have any value, and so on. Let's be realistic about the events: in a country where the opposition and civil society have been systematically destroyed since 2003, and media outlets have been shut down, what meaning can the struggle waged by a group of adventurous journalists to convey the truth possibly have? It may be that in the current situation, the struggle for which the journalists of Abzas, Toplum, and Meydan are rotting away a part of their lives in prison will not yield any result, and the Aliyev regime will become even harsher, completely isolating the country from the civilized world. But in the future, when historians look back and study these difficult days, they will see that a group of media workers and public activists did not lose their optimism even during the hardest days, and they will give us the place we deserve in history.

Sometimes I want to thank Ilham Aliyev for showing "mercy" by providing conditions for us to escape with a prison sentence of 8-12 years, instead of throwing us into some mute pit and pouring concrete over us. In principle, he could easily do this to us. There is no institution or international leverage to prevent it. Our state's favorite ally, Israel, kills journalists in Gaza almost every day. I wrote an article in Meydan: "History of Political Murders in Azerbaijan." If you read that article, you will see how many people were murdered for opposing the Aliyev regime, and their killers are still among us (at large). For now, they at most shoot journalists critical of Aliyev right at their doorstep (see: the murder of Elmar Huseynov). If the wave of repression continues at this pace, in the next 10 years, the police arresting us will not even bother to bring us to trial. They will just directly shoot us in the head and throw us into the Caspian Sea. And it is more profitable to do this than to waste paper and time on political prisoners. What I am saying might seem like a fragment from a dystopian novel to you, but if someone had been told 10 years ago that a massive wave of repression against journalists would begin in the country, I don't think anyone would have believed it.

Meydan TV is not just a mass media platform, but also a school for young journalists. Unfortunately, there are very few media outlets in Azerbaijan that give a reporter as much freedom as Meydan TV. Dozens of reporters who once worked with Meydan are now working in international media organizations. That's exactly why the prison management and inmates address Aynur Elgunesh as "teacher."

On December 6, when Meydan TV's journalists were arrested, I wrote to the editorial board stating that I wanted to continue the work of my comrades. I didn't do this because I was longing for prison life; this was a matter of principle for me.

In Kurdakhany, I often meet inmates about whom I once prepared reportages. Sometimes they recognize me, and sometimes I strike up a conversation with them. The first question they ask me is, "Why were you arrested?" And I reply, "I am here because I did not turn a blind eye to unjust arrests."

The scene I see here is heartbreaking. Every day, so many people are being framed on charges of "narcotics" and "weapons." What we are going through is not even 1% of the overall picture. We will not turn a blind eye to these injustices. I will continue writing from prison! We are in Meydan!

Nurlan Libre

Baku Investigative Detention Center