Azerbaijani journalist attacked by oil company security

Witnesses say Idrak Abbasov was punched and kicked by guards employed by energy firm Socar, in Baku
Oil and gas platforms off the coast of Baku, Azerbaijan.
Oil and gas platforms off the coast of Baku, Azerbaijan. Photograph: David Levene for the Guardian

A leading investigative journalist in Azerbaijan has been hospitalised after being beaten by security officers from the country's state-run oil giant.

Idrak Abbasov, who was awarded the Guardian journalism prize at the Index on Censorship's press awards last month, was left bloodied and bruised by the midday attack.

Witnesses said security officers from the Socar oil company had singled out the journalist, who was covering a protest by local residents against the energy giant's demolition of their homes on the outskirts of the capital, Baku.

"Several members of Socar's security team attacked Idrak. They took his video camera away, threw him to the ground and started to kick him," Abbasov's brother Roman, who was also at the protest, told Caucasian Knot, a news agency focusing on the region.

"He was all covered in blood, his head was smashed and one eye was totally shut."

Roman Abbasov said police refused to respond to the attack and he was forced to deliver his brother to hospital on his own. Doctors said his life was not in danger.

The Index on Censorship urged the Azeri government to launch a "full, transparent and independent investigation into these brutal attacks against Abbasov, his brother and colleagues".

Abbasov, who writes for the local Zerkalo newspaper and is a founding member for the country's Institute for Reporters' Freedom and Safety, has faced long-standing threats to his security.

In September, unidentified men clad in black broke into his parents' home and beat up members of his family. Two brothers who demanded an investigation into the attack were questioned by police instead.

The Committee to Protect Journalists has repeatedly criticised Azerbaijan for its growing crackdown on the press. Earlier this month, the group said the country had become among the top 10 jailers of journalists, with six reporters behind bars. It has also arrested opposition bloggers as the government continues to stifle independent voices.

Amnesty International has launched a video campaign to raise awareness over Azerbaijan's poor human rights as the country gets ready to host the Eurovision song contest next month.