“Ramiz Mehdiyev didn’t say that 90 journalists were in prison in Britain, but, citing a statement made by Britain’s OSCE representative, wanted to say that journalists can be held in prison for 90 days until court decisions are made,” said Ali Hasanov, Head of Presidential Administration Socio-political Department. According to APA A. Hasanov emphasized that press should know about this.
Yesterday the Institute for Reporters’ Freedom and Safety distributed a press release citing information from APA New Agency, according to which it was reported that Presidential Administration head Ramiz Mehdiyev said that the statements of different international organizations about the difficult situation of the press in Azerbaijan are not based on reality and anyone in Britain could be arrested for 90 days without showing any evidence.
However, according to the journalists that were there when Ramiz Mehdiyev said this, Ramiz Mehdiyev did not say that anyone in Britain could be arrested for 90 days without showing any evidence. He actually said that 90 journalists are currently in prison in Britain.