Azeri journalist dies after stabbing

 

Azerbaijani writer and journalist Rafiq Tagi has died four days after being stabbed several times in a late-night attack.

Tagi, a noted critic of the Azerbaijani government, neighbouring Iran and political Islam, died in the Baku hospital where he was taken following the 19 November attack.

After surgery 61-year-old Tagi had been reported to be in satisfactory condition. An hour before his death he was filmed telling a reporter that he was recovering well.

Some his friends had complained about a lack of security at the hospital and urged the government to take measures, but Tagi said he did not feel in danger.

Tagi was stabbed seven times outside his Baku home. He thought the attack might have been in retaliation for his opinion piece published earlier this month that criticised the Iranian government.

The Iranian embassy in Azerbaijan countered that the claims were groundless.

In May 2007, Tagi was sentenced to prison for inciting hatred with an article criticising Islam. Following international pressure, President Ilham Aliyev’s government granted him amnesty later that year.

 

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