23 November 2011
Azerbaijani journalist targeted by Fatwa dies after stabbing attack
Knife attack
Azerbaijani writer and journalist Rafiq Tagi has died in hospital where he was being treated for stab wounds sustained in a November 19 attack.
The death of Tagi, who was the object of a death fatwa issued by an Iranian cleric, came just one day after doctors pronounced him in satisfactory condition. He was a frequent critic of Azerbaijan's political leadership, political Islam, and Iran. A correspondent for RFE/RL's Azerbaijani Service interviewed Tagi in his final hours and reported his condition to have appeared stable.
Tagi suffered at least seven stab wounds in an attack on his way home on the night of November 19 in Baku. He underwent surgery to have his spleen removed as a result of the injuries. He told police from his hospital bed that there were two assailants.
Tagi had suggested as a possible motive for the attack the publication this month of an article titled "Iran And The Inevitability Of Globalization," (here in Azerbaijani) which he wrote for the website of RFE/RL's Azerbaijani Service. In it, Tagi criticized Iran's leadership as "intolerable."
An Iranian cleric, Grand Ayatollah Fazel Lankarani, had issued a fatwa calling for Tagi's death after he authored an article in 2006 that was regarded as critical of Islam and the Prophet Muhammad. Tagi was ordered to spend three years in jail by a Baku court for the same article. The Iranian Embassy in Azerbaijan released a statement on November 22 denying any Iranian involvement in the attack on Tagi.
>> Read the original article here
Source: Radio Free Europe
