Written by David Brewer

The Azerbaijan government should be proud of its young bloggers rather than put two of the most prominent behind bars. Two Azerbaijan bloggers have begun jail terms after being found guilty of hooliganism and violence.  Some say the sentence is political, because the authorities fear the growing youth movement. I’ve worked with some of their colleagues, and these are the types of young people the authorities should be proud of, not fear.

Three months ago I was in the Azerbaijan Media Center Baku delivering a training course on web journalism.

Many of the 20 attending were personal friends of the two men who are today behind bars. All are bloggers or journalists.

The training came just a month after Adnan Hajizade and Emin Abdullayev (also known as Milli) had been arrested following an incident in a Baku restaurant

I found out about their story on Twitter and followed those tweeting about the two. In the weeks before my trip to Baku I had covered the story here on Media Helping Media and added a number of the local bloggers to my Twitter contacts. Some were on my course.

Working with the group was an eye-opener. They were some of the most enthusiastic, innovative and dedicated journalists I have worked with.

Active young Azerbaijani journalists

Many of them already had a massive following online via their blogs and twitter sites and they were active on You Tube and Facebook.

What impressed me was their desire to learn how to deliver responsible journalism that informs the public debate.

These young people were not subversives, there was not a word said that could worry the Azerbaijan government, they were all committed to learn how to use their journalism for the betterment of society.

The video below was shot at the end of the journalism training course in August 2009. The government would do well to encourage such young people and point to their energy and commitment as national resource, rather than putting two of the leaders behind bars.