Watchdog

BAKU -- Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has signed a law making it easier for his government to shut down media outlets, particularly those with foreign financing.

Under amendments to the Caspian Sea state's law on mass media, any outlet that receives financing from abroad or is found guilty of defamation twice in a year can be shut down by a court ruling.

The legislation was passed by parliament on December 16 and signed by Aliyev on February 3.

Ten days after parliament approved the amendments, investigators and armed police raided RFE/RL's bureau in the capital, Baku, confiscating computers and holding staff members in a room for several hours.

Prosecutors said at the time that the raid was part of an ongoing investigation into RFE/RL's Azerbaijani Service as a foreign-funded entity.

Advocacy groups say Aliyev's government has targeted independent media as part of what Human Rights Watch recently called a "horrific crackdown" on civil society and critics.

KHATLON, Tajikistan -- An opposition politician who intended to run in Tajikistan's March 1 parliamentary election has been detained on embezzlement charges.

Firdavs Sohibnazarov's mother told RFE/RL on February 4 that her son was apprehended on February 3 and sent to a detention center in the city of Qurghonteppa.

Sohibnazarov leads the local branch of the Social Democratic Party (HSDT) in the southern Huroson district.

HSDT national leader Rahmatillo Zoirov told RFE/RL that authorities said the accusations against his colleague were linked to the "disappearance of $43,000" from a bank where Sohibnazarov used to work as a financial expert.

The HSDT nominated Sohibnazarov as a parliamentary candidate last month, but he was informed on January 31 that he was barred from running because he was under investigation.

Sohibnazarov told RFE/RL at the time that he believes the case was fabricated to keep him out of the election.