Azeri Journalists Sentenced to Prison For Exciting Religious Hostility

The Associated Press and Radio Free Europe report that a district court in Baku, Azerbaijan on Friday sentenced two journalists from the newspaper Senet to 3 and 4 years in prison respectively for publishing an article criticizing Islam and the Prophet Muhammad. Reporter Rafiq Tagi and his editor, reported variously to be either Samir Huseinov or Samir Sadagatoglu, were convicted on charges of exciting religious hostility in violation of Article 283.1 of Azerbaijan's Criminal Code. The article, published last November, said Islam had suffocated people, made them less free and hindered humanity's development. (See prior related posting.)