It’s great that Ilham Aliyev, current President of Azerbaijan, is also head of their National Olympic Committee. Seems he loves sport.
Aliyev is a tyrant, however.
The Economist scored Azerbaijan as an authoritarian regime, at 140th place (out of 167) in its 2011 Democracy Index. …
In the 2013-14 Press Freedom Index published by Reporters Without Borders, Azerbaijan ranked 160th out of an overall total of 180 nations …
They’ll be plenty of foreign journalist at the 2015 European Games in Baku. No doubt they’ll be doing some research, as well, as to what happened to the Azerbaijani journalists and activists jailed.
Rasul Jafarov, for example.
Rasul Jafarov, one of Azerbaijan’s best-known human rights activists and government critics, was sentenced on 16 April to six years and six months in prison on charges including tax evasion and abuse of power. He has also been barred from holding any office for three years following his release, reports contact.az.
The charges have been widely dismissed as trumped up and linked to Jafarov’s campaigning work in a country that has been continually criticised for its poor human rights record. …
Sport, as it’s done so many times in the past, should help move Azerbaijan forward in terms of human rights.
Gymnastics Coaching.com 