Eurovision's stardust masks Azerbaijan's human rights abuses

MILLIONS of people are focused on Azerbaijan this week for this year's Eurovision Song Contest, the kitschy, over-the-top international crooning competition with entrants as diverse as a troupe of Russian grandmas and spikey-haired Irish twins.

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The government, seizing its own moment on a grand stage, has gone all-out promoting the razzle-dazzle of its capital, Baku, an ancient seaside citadel quickly being transformed into a glittering petrocapital.

But the contest has also put a spotlight on a litany of abuses that human rights groups say make the government of President Ilham Aliyev one of the most repressive in the world.
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International watchdog groups and local advocates say political opponents are squashed, elections rigged, individual property rights ignored and journalists who dare to criticise the government routinely beaten, blackmailed and jailed.

''We all live in fear and intimidation,'' said Shahvalad Chobanoglu, a journalist with the opposition newspaper Azadliq.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/world/eurovisions-stardust-masks-azerbaijans-human-rights-abuses-20120524-1z7pu.html#ixzz1vrxEtXwA

Eurovision's stardust masks Azerbaijan's human rights abuses

Eurovision's stardust masks Azerbaijan's human rights abuses

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