Idrak Abbasov
| Idrak Abbasov | |
|---|---|
| Born | c.03.05.1976 |
| Nationality | Tolish Azerbaijan |
| Occupation | journalist |
| Organization | Zerkalo IRFS(human rights) |
| Known for | reporting on SOCAR, 2012 assault |
Idrak Abbasov (born c. 1976) is an Azerbaijani journalist who works for the newspaper Zerkalo, one of Azerbaijan's few newspapers not controlled by the government of President Ilham Aliyev. The Guardian described him as one of the nation's "leading journalists". He lives in Sulutəpə, a settlement in Baku, the nation's capital. Known for his reporting on forced evictions in Baku, Abbasov was badly beaten in 2012, allegedly by SOCAR security personnel.
In 2011, Abbasov began reporting on protests against SOCAR, the state oil company, by Sulutəpə citizens whose homes were being demolished by the company. After he began his reporting, security personnel for the company sent a digger to destroy his father's home, damaging the roof and walls. In recognition of his work, Index on Censorship awarded him the Guardian journalism award in March 2012 for "investigative journalism of dogged determination across a range of media, including print, online, radio and television". In his acceptance speech, Abbasov acknowledged other Azerbaijani journalists at risk, saying: "This is the price that my colleagues in Azerbaijan are paying for the right of the Azerbaijani people to know the truth about what is happening in their country. For the sake of this right we accept that our lives are in danger, as are the lives of our families. But the goal is worth it, since the right to truth is worth more than a life without truth."
Idrak Abbasov has sustained numerous injuries while performing professional activity. The most serious of them were suffered in 2001, 2005, 2009 and 2012.
On 12 May 2001, Abbasov was hit by a police baton on his head while the police were dispersing an opposition rally in the center of Baku. (Craniocerebral injury, concussion of the brain)
On 9 October 2005, during dispersal of an opposition rally in the center of Baku, a plainclothes policeman hit Abbasov with a brass knuckle on his right temple and left side of the jaw (Craniocerebral injury, concussion of the brain, several teeth broken.)
On 20 March 2009, employees of the Ministry of National Security of Nakhchivan Republic arrested Abbasov by pulling a sack over his head, and for three hours the minister himself questioned him under physical and psychological pressure. (As a result, he suffered neuro-angina)
On 18 April 2012, while preparing a report about forceful demolition of houses by SOCAR in Sulutapa settlement of Baku, Abbasov was brutally beaten by a group of security guards of SOCAR. (fracture in the right eye socket, two ribs broken, craniocerebral injury, concussion of the brain, injuries to the left kidney and other organs).
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