Ilgar Ibragimoglu
Radicalism is not amplified by films, but by the restriction of rights and freedoms. Intensification of Islamophobia and restriction of the rights and freedoms is the cause of rising protests. These events, in general, lead to increase in anti-American sentiment.
Ilgar Ibragimoglu is Chairman of the human rights organisation DEVAMM (The Centre for the Protection of Freedom of Conscience and Religion), Secretary-General of the Azerbaijani chapter of the International Association for Religious Freedoms, and chief editor of the online newspaper Deyerler (Values), www.deyerler.org.
The space for human rights defenders (HRDs) and NGOs has been steadily shrinking in Azerbaijan. A number of legislative amendments have been adopted in recent years that restrict the work of HRDs and put their activities under strict governmental control. The roundup of the most prominent HRDs and their subsequent trials and imprisonment indicate that Azerbaijan is well on the road towards authoritarianism, seemingly adopting a Russian-style contempt of civil society.
