{"id":31018,"date":"2025-08-16T14:53:57","date_gmt":"2025-08-16T14:53:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.irfs.org\/?p=31018"},"modified":"2025-08-16T14:53:58","modified_gmt":"2025-08-16T14:53:58","slug":"jailed-meydan-tv-journalists-denounce-fabricated-charges-and-demand-separation-of-cases","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.irfs.org\/az\/news-feed\/jailed-meydan-tv-journalists-denounce-fabricated-charges-and-demand-separation-of-cases\/","title":{"rendered":"Jailed Meydan TV Journalists Denounce ‘Fabricated’ Charges and Demand Separation of Cases"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Jailed Meydan TV Journalists Denounce ‘Fabricated’ Charges and Demand Separation of Cases<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jailed staff members of “Meydan TV” have issued a statement from prison, asserting that individuals with no connection to the media organisation have been unfairly implicated in their case. The journalists have been detained for eight months following a police operation last December, initially linked to an investigation into “smuggling”. They were subsequently charged under Article 206.3.2 of the Criminal Code, pertaining to smuggling committed by a group of individuals in prior collusion. Journalists such as Aytac \u018fhm\u0259dova (Tapd\u0131q), Aysel Umudova, Aynur Q\u0259nb\u0259rova (Elg\u00fcn\u0259\u015f), Natiq Cavadl\u0131, Ramin C\u0259bray\u0131lzad\u0259 (Deko), X\u0259yal\u0259 A\u011fayeva, and \u00dclvi Tahirov were among those initially detained for four months, with their detention periods extended multiple times. Further arrests in connection with the “Meydan TV case” included \u015e\u0259m\u015fad A\u011fayev, Nurlan Q\u0259hr\u0259manl\u0131 (Libre), Fatim\u0259 M\u00f6vlaml\u0131, and \u00dclviyy\u0259 Quliyeva (\u018fli) in February and May.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unjust Implication of Bak\u0131 Jurnalistika M\u0259kt\u0259bi (BJM) Representative<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The journalists’ statement specifically highlights the case of \u00dclvi Tahirov, a representative of the Bak\u0131 Jurnalistika M\u0259kt\u0259bi (BJM), who they claim has no affiliation with “Meydan TV”. His arrest, they state, stems solely from his friendship with Aynur Elg\u00fcn\u0259\u015f, Meydan TV’s editor-in-chief.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The statement clarifies the nature of BJM and its relationship with “Meydan TV”:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 BJM is a non-governmental organisation that has operated for 20 years, training hundreds of journalists, whose graduates are represented across various media outlets and TV channels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 While several “Meydan TV” employees, including Aynur Elg\u00fcn\u0259\u015f, are BJM alumni, and the friendship between Elg\u00fcn\u0259\u015f and Tahirov originated at BJM, there have been no business ties between “Meydan TV” and BJM.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 Aynur Elg\u00fcn\u0259\u015f served as editor-in-chief of “var.az,” a website under BJM, from 2009 to 2011, and provided training in public journalism. However, BJM changed its profile to multimedia training in 2014, and Elg\u00fcn\u0259\u015f’s training activities ceased, cutting off business relations due to her specialisation in print media.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 The journalists argue that any personal connection of Aynur Elg\u00fcn\u0259\u015f to BJM does not constitute a connection for “Meydan TV,” which is an official media organisation registered in Germany.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Investigation’s Shift to BJM Finances and Alleged Fabrications<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The jailed journalists assert that the investigation, having failed to achieve its initial objectives regarding “Meydan TV,” has now shifted its focus to BJM’s activities and finances.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 They claim that the investigation is now posing questions about BJM’s financial operations and attempting to obtain testimonies based on documents of unknown origin that do not show any connection to “Meydan TV”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 It is alleged that these documents are being used to create the appearance of 1 million manats in funds being obtained and an accusation of approximately 80,000 manats in tax evasion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 The journalists dismiss these figures as “ridiculous,” stating that the total amount attributed to “uploads” and fake documents does not exceed 160,000 manats, which is a “laughable sum” for 11 arrested individuals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 They contend that the claim of BJM receiving grant projects, and the fabricated proportions of these amounts, are being used to justify the arrests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 The journalists accuse the authorities of handling the process incompetently, leading them to believe that the true objective is not to accuse but to arrest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 They also highlight that other journalists, including \u015e\u0259m\u015fad A\u011fa, Natiq Cavadl\u0131, X\u0259yal\u0259 A\u011fayeva, Fatim\u0259 M\u00f6vlaml\u0131, \u00dclviyy\u0259 \u018fli, and Nurlan Libre, who have no connection to BJM’s training rooms, are being punished based on forged documents related to the organisation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Journalists’ Defiant Stance and Demands<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The “Meydan TV” journalists firmly reject all accusations against them, stating that their arrests are linked to their professional journalistic activities. They explicitly state their opposition to the addition of further fabrications to an already “fake” criminal case. They demand dignified treatment from the political authorities. Crucially, they reiterate that there has never been a business relationship between BJM and “Meydan TV” and that no documents or evidence exist to prove otherwise. Therefore, they demand the separation of the BJM case from the “Meydan TV” case<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The statement concludes with a strong message to the authorities, asserting that if their expectations of a political show for the public have failed, they should not compensate for it with further falsification. The journalists declare that their actions do not contain any criminal elements and emphatically state: “Journalism is not a crime!<\/strong>“.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Jailed Meydan TV Journalists Denounce ‘Fabricated’ Charges and Demand Separation of Cases Jailed staff members of “Meydan TV” have issued a statement from prison, asserting that individuals with no connection to the media organisation have been unfairly implicated in their case. The journalists have been detained for eight months following a police operation last December, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":31019,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-31018","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-feed"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.irfs.org\/az\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31018","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.irfs.org\/az\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.irfs.org\/az\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.irfs.org\/az\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.irfs.org\/az\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31018"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.irfs.org\/az\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31018\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31021,"href":"https:\/\/www.irfs.org\/az\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31018\/revisions\/31021"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.irfs.org\/az\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/31019"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.irfs.org\/az\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31018"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.irfs.org\/az\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31018"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.irfs.org\/az\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31018"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}