As we broadcast all week from COP29 in Baku, climate justice activists and civil society groups have raised concern over Azerbaijan's role as host of the U.N. climate talks. The authoritarian country has cracked down on journalists, activists and government critics leading up to COP29 and has been accused of using the climate summit to drum up business for its oil and gas industry. On Wednesday, Democracy Now! attended a news conference led by Azerbaijani Deputy Foreign Minister Yalchin Rafiyev, who is the COP29 lead negotiator, but who refused to answer a question about the arrests. Democracy Now! host Amy Goodman later tried to ask Rafiyev in the halls of the convention venue, but he again refused to answer.
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