Azerbaijan, Baku / Trend corr. S.Ilhamgizi / Shahvalad Chobanoglu, the editor of the Gundalik Azerbaijan newspaper, stated on 11 June that the date of the Azerbaijani journalists rally has been postponed.
The rally was planned to be held on 12 June. The rally organizer is the Azerbaijani Union of Editors. The rally was planned to begin from the Hazi Aslanov metro station and end in a square which is currently being used for petroleum refinery.
The Executive Administration of Baku permitted the rally to be held from the Hazi Aslanov metro station and end at Ukraine Square. The organizers refused to hold the rally in Ukraine Square due to potholes in the area.
The rally has been postponed to 23 June. The organizers will send a letter regarding the route of the rally to the Administration.
Participants were to include people from a range of opposition newspapers the New Musavat, the Azadlyg, the Gundalik Azerbaijan, the Realniy Azerbaijan, all whose operations have been suspended, and the Baku Kabar newspaper and other independent newspapers, as well as social and political figures protesting pressure on the media and the illegal arrest of journalists.
Presently, some five journalists are under arrest.